Bengal to begin Census in August; CM blames previous regime for delay

The chief minister announced that census operations in West Bengal would commence on August 1 and continue till the end of February next year.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday alleged the previous Trinamool Congress government failed to act on a communication from the Centre about the Census exercise, causing the state to lag behind others in preparations for the nationwide enumeration process.

Addressing a press conference after chairing a meeting on the first phase of the census at the state secretariat, he claimed the Centre had written to the then state government in February last year to initiate preparatory work for the census, but no action was taken.

"The previous government did not start the Census process for political reasons. The then chief secretary was also waiting for a political concurrence.

"Because the previous government did not undertake any census-related work, other states have moved much further ahead while we have fallen behind," Adikari said.

Describing the situation as "unfortunate", the chief minister said his government moved quickly to bridge the gap.

"After taking charge, I took several decisions at the first cabinet meeting on May 11 in the presence of the chief secretary. One of them was to begin the census process," he said.

The chief minister announced that census operations in West Bengal would commence on August 1 and continue till the end of February next year.

Adhikari said Census director Rashmi Komal would oversee the entire exercise in the state. He said data collection will be carried out between August 1 and August 15 during the initial phase.

The Bengal CM also unveiled two toll-free helpline numbers for people to lodge complaints or seek assistance related to the exercise.

He said the upcoming census would be conducted digitally for the first time.

Government employees engaged in the enumeration process will collect data using a dedicated mobile app and upload the information directly to a central server.

Sources said that the development of the application was nearing completion.

Stressing the importance of the exercise, Adhikari said, "The census has no connection with politics. It is a Constitutional obligation." He appealed to people to cooperate with officials to ensure the smooth conduct of the enumeration process.

Referring to border areas, the chief minister alleged the previous TMC government had failed to provide land required by the Border Security Force (BSF) for fencing projects, hampering efforts to check infiltration from Bangladesh.

"We have a 600-kilometre-long unfenced border with Bangladesh. As the previous state government did not hand over land to BSF, fencing could not be done, which led to infiltration and a change in the demography in parts of West Bengal," he said.

"Although it is not directly linked to the census exercise, this enumeration is very important for our state," he said.