Residents who do not co-operate or provide correct information for the population enumeration phase of Census 2011 are liable to face legal action as per the Census Act 1948, said S. Gopalakrishnan, Director, Census Operations, Tamil Nadu, here on Monday.
Addressing presspersons at Ripon Building, he said the phase would begin on February 9 and conclude on February 28 and it is mandatory that people respond to the questions posed by the enumerators. This enumeration phase follows the house listing and housing census, which were undertaken in June and July last year.
For enumeration, 29 questions have been devised, including those pertaining to the marital and economic status, literacy level, religion, mother tongue and work profile. People residing in the city for over one month, including foreigners, those staying in hotels, government hospitals and prison, would be included in the enumeration.
However, members of the family away from the city for over a month would not be included. Details about them would be enumerated in the place where they currently live.
For data related to the nature of job, even if the individual had worked for one day in the last one year, it would be included, Mr. Gopalakrishnan said.
Some of the new features in the questionnaire include eight options in the disability parameter, separate code for non-economic activity, introduction of a new category for those who worked for less than three months among marginal workers. This time, date of birth would also be asked apart from the age, for the sake of accuracy.
On February 28 evening, the homeless residents across the city would be enumerated with the support of non-governmental organisations.
While the statistics would be released, individual data would be maintained as confidential. Teachers constitute a majority of the 1.5 lakh enumerators and supervisors who would be involved in the process across the State. In Chennai, about 9,000 people, including employees of various government departments and Chennai Corporation workers, would engage in the census enumeration.
Each enumerator would cover about 200 families. The staff members have been granted half a day for the field work. They would visit the area during afternoon or evening and their work timings would depend upon the locality. It is not essential for all members in a family to be present during the enumerator's visit. If the house is locked during the enumerator's visit, which is likely to be the case in households where both the couple are employed, such residents may contact the Chennai Corporation helpline 1913 or toll-free numbers of Census Operations 18003450111 or 1800110111 to fix a time with the enumerator, Mr.Gopalakrishnan said.
Residents with grievances that their locality is yet to be covered can also contact the helpline at the earliest. Suburban residents may contact the office of the local body.
To queries on omission rate during the housing census, he said the enumerators have been given details of those omitted by comparing data pertaining to income tax and elector's photo identity card. Following this census, biometric data collection would be done in June and July this year. The unique identity cards are expected to be issued by this year-end, Mr.Gopalakrishnan added.
Chennai Corporation Commissioner D.Karthikeyan and Deputy Commissioner (Revenue and Finance) Anu George were present.
