1,200 enumerators to be deployed in Jammu,  self-enumeration window to open May 17

JAMMU: Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) Commissioner Dr Devansh Yadav on Friday termed Census 2027 a “historic” exercise being undertaken after a gap of fifteen years, and urged citizens to actively participate in the enumeration to enhance the coverage of government welfare schemes and strengthen service delivery.
With more than 1,200 enumerators deployed for the exercise in Jammu city, and the self-enumeration window to open May 17, the commissioner clarified various aspects related to Census 2027.
He said people must not perceive the exercise as a threat to citizenship, as the census was not linked to validating citizenship or legal residency.
“Jammu city, with a population of around eight lakh, comprises seventy-five wards and around fifteen outgrowth areas, along with some slums. In all these areas, Jammu Municipal Corporation teams consisting of more than 1,200 enumerators, will conduct the census,” Yadav told reporters here.
He said the self-enumeration window will remain open from May 17 to May 31, during which citizens can upload their household details on the official census portal using a one-time OTP-based registration system.
“The benefit of self enumeration is that when JMC teams visit houses in June, the already submitted information can be fetched automatically, reducing the time taken for data collection and minimising chances of errors,” he said, adding that the information collected during the exercise would remain confidential.
The commissioner said all MLAs have been designated as “census ambassadors” to spread awareness in their constituencies.
He said the month-long field exercise from June 1-30 would ensure complete coverage and appealed to people to contact JMC helpline numbers if census teams fail to reach any locality.
He said intensive training sessions for enumerators are underway and another round of training will be conducted before the commencement of field operations to ensure smooth implementation of the exercise.
“The information will only be used for implementation of government welfare schemes and will not be linked with income tax or any other law,” he clarified. Yadav said the June exercise would involve only houselisting, while the actual population census would be conducted in February next year.
He further said around 50,000 awareness slips are being distributed door-todoor to educate people about the census process and encourage participation.
Replying to a query, the commissioner said caste-related and socio-economic details would also be collected during the exercise.
“Information such as availability of electricity, ‘pucca’ house, refrigerator, television, two-wheelers and other amenities will be collected to assess socioeconomic conditions of households,” he said, reiterating that the data would remain strictly confidential.
On concerns regarding awareness in remote areas and apprehensions among people about sharing personal information, Yadav said the media has an important role in countering misinformation and fake news.
“This work is being done in national interest and people should not have any doubts regarding the exercise,” he said, adding that senior political leaders, judges and top officials would themselves begin self enumeration to build public confidence.
Clarifying doubts regarding citizenship, he said the census exercise was not linked to validating citizenship or legal residency. “This is only an assessment of the ground situation. It does not amount to approval of citizenship.” Yadav said people should provide details based on where they are residing, explaining that individuals staying in a place for the past six months and expected to continue their stay for the next six months would be counted accordingly.
Issuing an advisory, Yadav urged people to use only the official census website for self enumeration and avoid opening suspicious links received through SMS or other platforms.
“No payment of any kind will be required for self enumeration. Only an OTP will be used for registration,” he said, asking people to share only verified and secure official links in the public domain.