Adhikari urges public participation as digital Census begins

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari launched the self-enumeration phase of India's 16th Census, urging public participation and assuring data privacy. He termed it the country's first fully digital Census and blamed the previous TMC government for delaying the exercise

Kolkata: The self-enumeration exercise for India’s 16th Census began in West Bengal on Saturday, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari filling in his details on the official website. The window for the first phase of the once-in-a-decade population survey will remain open from August 1 to August 15, during which people can submit their details through the official portal se.census.gov.in.

This will be followed by a house-listing phase from August 16 to September 14, during which information on the condition of housing, household amenities and assets possessed will be collected. Describing the upcoming Census as the country’s first fully digital population count, Adhikari urged people to participate in the exercise and cooperate with officials.

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He sought to allay fears about privacy and data security, saying information collected would remain confidential and protected under law. “The data will be used only for statistics, planning and development. There is no scope for misuse of personal information in any form.” “I urge every person in West Bengal to cooperate with the authorities involved and participate in the process,” he said.

The chief minister said that once the final Census data is recorded, people would not have to repeatedly submit documents to avail themselves of benefits under various government welfare schemes.

Addressing concerns over the Special Intensive Revision process and the ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate) list of voters, Adhikari said many of those who figure in the list have not challenged it. “Out of the 27 lakh people who were given an opportunity to approach the SIR tribunal, around seven lakh had applied. The rest have not submitted any application or appeal so far,” he said.

The chief minister said it would not be possible to determine whether those who had not made any claim as voters would later seek recognition as Indian citizens until the entire process was completed.

He also clarified that the Census exercise and the issue of illegal immigration were separate. Adhikari took the opportunity to target the previous Trinamool Congress dispensation, accusing it of delaying the Census process.

“We had fallen behind the rest of the country to a large extent due to the unwillingness of the previous government (to cooperate with the Centre). But we gave this (Census) the highest priority after coming to power,” Adhikari said.