Two states get new census officers ahead of key enumeration

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet(ACC) has appointed new officers as Directors of Census Operations or Director of Citizen Registration in two states and given extensions to existing officers in these positions in seven states over the last fortnight.

These appointments and extensions come ahead of the house listing operations exercise set to begin on April 1, under Phase I of the National Census.

IAS officers Biswajit Pegu and Rashmi Kama have been appointed Directors of Census Operations in Assam and West Bengal respectively. And officers in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Haryana have received extensions.

The Director of Census Operations is in charge of the census in their state, under the supervision of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. They monitor the house listing exercise, conduct the census, oversee publication of data for the state and prepare maps needed for the purpose. On July 3 and 4, 2025, the Union government convened a two-day conference of Directors of Census Operations to prepare a roadmap for the census. The exercise involves finalisation of the frame of administrative units, collection of data through mobile apps, management and monitoring of census activities through Census Management and Monitoring System(CMMS) portal, self-enumeration and training of census functionaries.

In areas that fall under the control of defence forces or paramilitary forces, including the border, DCOs have to appoint special officers in consultation with the authorities to hold the exercise. They have to do the same in so-called special zones such as forest areas, thermal power stations and high security housing colonies.

The Centre on January 7 issued a formal notification for the first phase of Census 2027, announcing that the house listing operations will be conducted from April 1 to September 30 this year. The massive exercise will span all states and Union territories, with each state/UT allocated a specific 30-day window within this six-month period. Additionally, a self-enumeration facility will be available to citizens 15 days prior to the commencement of the first phase in their respective areas.