RANCHI: Budha Pahad, which remained a safe haven for Maoists for three decades owing to its difficult topography and inaccessible terrains, is set to witness a fearless census this time after more than three decades.
As the region has been fully liberated from red rebels, census teams will probably enter many of the villages within the Budha Pahar region for the first time.
Though the officials are reluctant to comment on the issue, locals said there are several villages under the Budha Pahar region where census teams had to face significant difficulties and were unable to reach many of the households.
This time, however, the census team will collect data from every single household in the region, for which proper security arrangements have been made.
Local police have formulated a special plan to facilitate the census in Budha Pahar and other Maoist-affected areas. “As soon as the door-to-door census starts in the region, proper security arrangements will be provided to the census team so that they don’t have to face any difficulty and a fearless census is done in the region,” said Palamu DIG Kishore Kaushal. They are coordinating with the deputy commissioner, he added.
The DIG further informed that the security of census personnel will be monitored through a network of police pickets and police stations to ensure they face no difficulties. “Senior officials are closely monitoring the situation,” said the DIG.