The enumerators go from house to house and fill out the National Population Register (NPR) and the House listing and Housing Census forms. The NPR Household Schedule consists of 14 questions regarding personal details of every individual in each household.
Enumerator A. Sagaimary began the process the day after school closed for the summer. Her engaging manner puts the members of the household at ease while personal details are being discussed.
She has covered over 90 houses so far, with diligence, by filling up the forms first in pencil and later in ink when she gets home.
N. Jayamma, another enumerator, who is a primary school teacher at the Government Model Primary School, Domlur, said: “I cover around 10 households in a day. Since there are no fixed timings, I usually set out at 7 a.m. to avoid the afternoon heat.”
A statistical investigator from the Directorate of Census Operations, Karnataka, said that each teacher will cover at least 120 to 150 households within the 45-day period.
The 198 Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) wards have been divided into 70 blocks depending on the density of population in each ward. He said that one enumerator has been assigned to each block. This enumerator has the responsibility of getting the accurate headcount.
The process will continue for 45 days, till June 1. While all “normal households” will be covered in the 45-day period, “Houseless Households”, a count of the homeless, will be conducted on February 28, 2011.
The third category of “Institutional Households”, which includes hostels, jails and religious institutions, would also be covered.
