AP To Launch Public Awareness Drive Ahead Of 2027 Census
To strengthen outreach, the Chief Secretary directed state census director J. Nivas to prepare and circulate special Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material across all districts to raise public awareness about the census: Reports
VIJAYAWADA: Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand on Thursday directed district collectors to launch an extensive public awareness campaign ahead of the 2027 Census, emphasising that public cooperation will be crucial for conducting the exercise smoothly and accurately.
Reviewing census preparations during a video conference with district collectors from the AP Secretariat, Vijayanand stressed the need for clear and consistent communication at the grassroots level to ensure citizens are well informed about the process and its significance. He said the State Census Director has already issued detailed guidelines and asked collectors to strictly adhere to them.
To strengthen outreach, the Chief Secretary directed state census director J. Nivas to prepare and circulate special Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material across all districts to raise public awareness about the census.
During the meeting, Vijayanand also reviewed progress on the establishment of MSME parks in all 175 Assembly constituencies and land allocation for dispensaries and Integrated Medical Services (IMS) hospitals. He urged officials to ensure timely execution of these projects while maintaining transparency and efficiency.
Briefing the collectors, Nivas said the last census was conducted in 2011 and the next would be held in 2027. He said the exercise would be conducted in two phases — the House Listing and Housing Census (HLO) and the Population Enumeration (PE). He added that the Centre issued a gazette notification on June 16, followed by a notification for the first phase on January 7.
Nivas said the house listing and housing census would be conducted from April 1 to September 30 this year. He said district collectors would act as principal census officers, while municipal commissioners would oversee the process in municipal corporations. At the mandal level, RDOs, tahsildars and BDOs would function as charge officers.
Government employees, teachers, Swarna Gramam and ward staff, along with local body personnel, would be engaged as enumerators and supervisors and would be paid remuneration as per norms. Training programmes for Principal Census Officers and municipal commissioners are scheduled for the third week of February.
The meeting was attended by Special Chief Secretary (State Services) S.S. Rawat, RTGS CEO Prakhar Jain, senior officials from the Industries and Commerce and Information and Public Relations departments, district collectors and other officers, both in person and virtually.
