Jammu, Oct 6: Director of Census Operations, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Amit Sharma on Tuesday said the Army, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and other Central forces had been covered under Census 2027, with population enumeration of Special Charges completed through paper schedules in view of security concerns. Addressing a press conference here, Sharma said there are 125 special charges in Jammu and Kashmir and 47 in Ladakh, covering the armed forces, paramilitary forces and other central forces.
“Population Enumeration is conducted for special charges, while there is no house listing operation (HLO) for them. Special Charges include the military, paramilitary forces and other Central forces,” Sharma said, announcing that the enumeration exercise was successfully completed.
He said the census authorities had adopted a separate mechanism for special charges because of their distinct operational and security requirements.
“The enumeration for these Special Charges is being conducted through paper schedules. There are security concerns involved, so their information cannot essentially be collected over the internet. Therefore, the paper schedules were printed in a timely manner and the required information was collected through these schedules,” he said.
Sharma said the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, had also held an exclusive meeting with representatives of the special charges during his visit to Ladakh in September and reviewed their preparedness.
“He held an exclusive meeting with the special charges and asked them about their preparations. He also reviewed the arrangements and was very satisfied after interacting with the concerned personnel,” Sharma said.
He said regular meetings were held with the Ministry of Defence, helping streamline the census exercise involving the Army.
“One very positive development this time is that we had regular meetings with the Ministry of Defence. The Army, which has a very large presence among the Special Charges, is directly providing the required data to us,” Sharma said.
He said the arrangement had made the exercise considerably easier as the Army has a vast geographical spread, with battalions and companies deployed at different locations.
“The Army has a central database. After incorporating the required Census fields, they are directly providing the data to us from that database,” he said.
For the 125 special charges in Jammu and Kashmir and 47 in Ladakh, the census activity was completed through paper schedules, Sharma said, adding that any doubts and queries raised during the exercise were addressed in real time.
“Our national trainers were directly overseeing and coordinating the exercise. They were involved in the process until even the last couple of days,” he said.
Sharma said conducting the census for special charges through paper schedules was a detailed exercise involving close coordination with the respective establishments.
“It may sound simple, but coordinating with special charges, providing them with everything required and getting the information collected through paper schedules is a detailed exercise,” he said.
He said the exercise had been successfully concluded across different forces, including the Air Force and other central forces.
The next stage would involve the digitisation of the data collected through paper schedules, Sharma said, adding that the concerned establishments would digitise the information themselves and return it to the Census authorities within the prescribed timeframe.
“Paper records are not acceptable for integration into the census database. Therefore, the concerned establishments will themselves digitise the data and return it to us within the prescribed timeframe. We will then integrate this data with our main census database,” he said.
He said the digitised information would be transmitted through a secure and encrypted mechanism, with fixed formats prescribed for its integration.
“The data will reach us in a very safe and secure, encrypted form. The formats have also been fixed, and our IT division is working on the process,” the director said.
Sharma thanked the officers and personnel associated with the special charges, particularly the paramilitary forces, for their cooperation in completing the census exercise in a timely manner.
“We received complete support from the Special Charges throughout the exercise. I would like to congratulate and thank all the officers working with the special charges, particularly the personnel of the paramilitary forces, for extending their full cooperation in completing this entire activity,” he said.
Sharma clarified that there was some confusion among people between the Census and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), stressing that the two are entirely separate exercises.
“There is some confusion among people regarding SIR and the Census. SIR is conducted by the Election Commission of India, whereas the census is conducted under the Ministry of Home Affairs through the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. The census is a decennial exercise and has no connection with the revision of electoral rolls,” he said.
