BHUBANESWAR: Persons refusing census officials access to their house or providing false information will face penalty and imprisonment up to three years, warned the state government ahead of the crucial house-listing operation in Odisha. The exercise, under the first phase of Census-2027, is set to commence from April 16.
Issuing a notification in this connection, the Revenue and Disaster Management (R&DM) department has stated that population census, being a gigantic task of national importance, depends largely on cooperation of general public for its success. People should extend necessary support to the Census officials and enumerators for smooth conduct of the exercise, it emphasised.
The department also made it clear that under section 11 of the Census Act, any person who intentionally gives a false answer or refuses to answer to the best of his knowledge or belief; or any person, occupying a house or other place, who refuses to allow a census officer such reasonable access; and any person who removes, alters or damages any letter, mark or number affixed for the purpose of the census will be penalised with a fine that may extend up to Rs 1,000 and may also be punishable, if convicted, with imprisonment up to three years.
“A census officer may ask all such questions to all persons within the limits of the local area for which he has been appointed and every person of whom any question is asked under sub-section (1) shall be legally bound to answer such question to the best of his knowledge or belief,” the department added.
It, however, clarified that as per the relevant provisions of the Act, no person will be bound to state name of any female member of his household while no women will also be forced to state the name of her husband, deceased husband or any other person whose name she is forbidden by customs to mention.
The Census 2027 exercise, in the first phase, will involve housing and house-listing operations from April 16 to May 15. In the second phase, population enumeration (PE) will be conducted from February 2027, followed by a revisional round from March 1 to March 5, 2027.
A total 66,300 households have already enumerated themselves digitally as of Saturday afternoon, in the ongoing self-enumeration drive, sources in state Census Operations said.
The government has designed a questionnaire set covering key aspects such as housing conditions, family details, head of the household, vehicles, land ownership, LPG usage etc., for the enumeration exercise. About one lakh enumerators and 17,000 supervisors have been planned to be engaged for house-listing.