The state will get its Census 2027 underway on August 1. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has put the record straight: fieldwork will be in full swing until the end of February. He’s calling it what it is – an administrative must – and while he has pointed to some alleged changes in the make-up of the population due to infiltration, he’s had no time for any political spin on the matter.
What it means for you in Bengal come August 1
We are seeing a shift to a more modern way of doing things. If you head to se.census.gov.in between the 1st and 15th of August, you can put in your household’s information before anyone comes to the door. That’s the self-enumeration window officials have put in place.
It’s as simple as logging in with your mobile, putting down the basics and even pinning your location on a map. Once you’re done, you’ll be given a unique Self-Enumeration ID to have on hand.
Here is what you need to keep in mind:
– You can do it yourself from August 1 to 15
– The site is se.census.gov.in; you’ll need your phone number
– Don’t lose the SE ID you get out of it
A word on verification
Put in your data online and you still may see an enumerator at your door. But they won’t be there for a long chat. A quick look at your SE ID is all it takes to confirm things and be on their way.
For those who prefer to do it the old-fashioned way, we’ve left the door open. Enumerators will be using smartphones to put in the numbers rather than paper, and whether you use the app or the portal, you can do it in 16 languages, English and Hindi included.
Then there’s the politics of it
Adhikari has been firm: this has nothing to do with politics and he wants everyone to be part of it. You can’t plan for welfare or put up infrastructure without hard data, he says.
He also didn’t mince words about the situation in some parts of the state. He put the blame for some of the demographic change on the 600 km of unfenced border with Bangladesh, where he says the last government failed to give the BSF the land it needed to put up a fence, leaving the way open for illegal entry.
Why we are counting now
It has been 15 years since we last had a national census in 2011. This is the 16th one in the country and the eighth since we became independent, all under the 1948 Act and 1990 Rules.
The rest of the country has been moving forward, but West Bengal has some ground to cover, according to the CM. By going digital and then checking in the field, we can get better, faster data to work with when it comes to where resources go.
The plan and the people behind it
After a sit-down with the Principal Census Officers at Nabanna, the Chief Minister laid out the timetable. We start on the 1st of August and wrap up by the end of February next year.
Think of this as the first leg of the 'Census of India, 2027‘ for us in the state. The message from authorities is that if we want a count we can trust and to make sound calls on governance, we all need to be in on it.
