KOLKATA: Accusing the previous Trinamool Congress government of not conducting a census in West Bengal, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Friday that the headcount process would begin on August 1 and continue till February next year.
The Chief Minister also said that the census exercise in West Bengal has no link with politics.
He told reporters at the state secretariat Nabanna on Friday that the Centre had sent a letter to the previous government in February 2025, urging it to conduct the census in the state, but former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remained inactive on the matter.
Urging people to participate in the process, Suvendu said the Census 2027 exercise would be held in the state between August 1 and the end of February next year, and asserted that the headcount process has no connection with politics.
The Chief Minister said India had made considerable progress in census operations and that Bengal needs to catch up with other states.
“The previous government could not hold the census operations owing to some political reasons. The then chief secretary also waited for a political consensus before holding the exercise in the state and as a result we lagged behind other states,” he said.
“Now, our government has taken prompt steps. Conducting the census process was one of the prime agendas in our first Cabinet meeting held on May 11. Rasmi Komal, director of census, will oversee the entire operation. This will be the first time the census is conducted through a digitalised system,” he added.
State government employees engaged in the census exercise will collect data using mobile phones. A specialised app will also be developed for government staff for the exercise, which is being conducted in Bengal after 15 years.
The Chief Minister also referred to alleged demographic changes in parts of the state, attributing them to cross-border infiltration.
“We have a 600-km-long unfenced border with Bangladesh. As the previous state government did not hand over land to the BSF, fencing could not be completed, which led to infiltration and changes in the demographic composition in parts of West Bengal,” he said.
He stressed that accurate census data was essential for governance and planning.
The Chief Minister attended a meeting at Nabanna in connection with the first phase of the ‘Census of India, 2027’.