Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was enumerated for Census 2011 on Saturday, said the data from this massive exercise would be a ‘treasure house’ of information to help government plan development work.
Census officials visited the Race Course residence of the 77-year-old Prime Minister in the morning and collected particulars from him and his wife, Gursharan Kaur.
Official sources said Dr. Singh was enthusiastic in giving out information during the 15-minute exercise.
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Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chauhan, Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai and Census Commissioner C. Chandramouli were present.
Dr. Singh asked every citizen to participate in the national endeavour and ensure that all citizens were enumerated properly. He said the Census of India was the most massive operation for compiling statistics anywhere in the world. “Some of this data forms an important base for planning the level of our economic and social activities and it constitutes an important input in the processes of planning and development.”
The biggest Census exercise ever attempted in human history to cover India’s 1.2-billion population began on April 1, with President Pratibha Patil being the first person to be enumerated. The 15th National Census, in which over 25 lakh officials are capturing the socio-economic-cultural profile of the citizens, will also seek information for the creation of the National Population Register. — PTI
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