NEW DELHI: The deadline to freeze the administrative boundaries of villages and districts has been extended till June 30 and no boundary alteration will be allowed July onwards. The measure, proposed by the Revenue Department for the ensuing census, has received approval from L-G VK Saxena, Rajniwas officials said on Tuesday.
The latest extension has ruled out the census exercise before the 2024 general elections. However, officials also indicate that the exercise may start in the latter half of the year. According to officials, it takes at least three months to train enumerators after the boundaries are frozen.
“As per rule 8(iv) of Census Rules, 1990, the State Governments and the Union Territory Administrations shall freeze the administrative boundaries of districts, tehsils, towns, etc. from the date to be intimated by the Census Commissioner which shall not be earlier than one year from the census reference date and till the completion of the census,” it added.
Officials said that the Office of the Registrar General had asked the Delhi Chief Secretary to freeze the boundaries of the administrative units for the Census 2021, expected to come into effect from January 2020.
However, due to the onset of Covid-19 Pandemic, the decennial Census exercise, originally slated for 2021, got delayed, leading to extension of the date of freezing the boundaries of administrative units. The last extension upto January 1, 2024 was approved in August last year.