Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 9 Sep: The Census Directorate and the state administration have begun preparations to enumerate the population of 1.27 crore residents, requiring nearly 35,000 personnel. To streamline operations, the state has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) under Census Secretary Deepak Kumar. In Uttarakhand, the second phase of Census 2027 will be conducted from 1 December 2026 to 4 January 2027, following the Gazette notification issued by the Government of India.
Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan today chaired a meeting with all the Principal Census Officers, including the District Magistrates and the Municipal Commissioners, who joined virtually. The Census Directorate’s Director Eva Ashish Srivastava briefed the officials on the activities, the applications and the portals linked to the second phase. She also made it clear during the meeting that no department can refuse to provide staff for census duty. Departments declining to cooperate will face action under the Census Act and SOP provisions.
The SOP mandates the school principals to submit lists of the teachers and the staff to Block Education Officers, who will classify them by administrative jurisdiction and forward them to charge officers. The teachers will be assigned duties at the nearest enumeration block to minimise disruption to school activities. Single-teacher schools will be exempt, while the supervisors will balance census responsibilities with teaching work. Reserve staff also would not be able to claim exemption from regular duties unless fully deployed for census work. The medical boards will assess requests for exemption on health grounds, and only in exceptional emergencies will trained staff be relieved of duty.
The DMs and the Principal Census Officers have been authorised to mobilise all government departments, local bodies and aided institutions to ensure timely completion of this nationally significant exercise.
