Punjab News Daily

Chandigarh, September 11

The 4th Meeting of the State Level Census Coordination Committee (SLCCC) for Census 2027 was held on Friday under the Chairmanship of Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha at Chandigarh.

The meeting was convened by convener Navjot Khosa IAS, Director Census Operations Punjab and  was attended by State Nodal officer Ghanshyam Thori IAS and all the members of the SLCCC. All the Deputy Commissioners / Commissioners, Municipal Corporations-cum-Principal Census Officers (PCOs) participated through Video Conferencing.

 KAP Sinha appreciated the PCOs for completing the work diligently and within timeline. He directed that finalisation of Field Trainers be completed by 15th September, 2026 and finalisation of Enumeration Blocks and Supervisors / Enumerators by 30th September, 2026. All preparatory activities for Phase-II shall be completed before 10th November, 2026.

The Committee deliberated upon guidelines regarding formation of Enumeration Blocks, enumeration of houseless, institutional households and coverage of all settlements. Roles of PCOs, SDMs and Charge Officers were reiterated with clear accountability at each level. The Chairman directed that exemptions from census duty shall not be approved below the level of SDM.

The PCOs were directed to ensure complete coverage of all areas, conduct the Census with full accuracy ensuring that there is no omission or duplication. Besides, the PCOs were also directed to prepare a concrete action plan for enumeration of houseless population, ensure coverage of all institutional households, slums, isolated settlements and newly developed areas, conduct regular inspections and weekly reviews, and go in for the mission mode execution of Population Enumeration.

The Chief Secretary instructed the Administrative Secretary-cum-Nodal Officer, Department of Local Government to ensure disbursement of honorarium to all census functionaries of Phase-I on priority and to submit the Utilisation Certificates of Phase-I work to the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India at the earliest.

He further directed that budget requirement for the second phase of Population Enumeration be worked out and submitted to the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India for timely release of funds and also extensive publicity for Self-Enumeration and Population Enumeration must be undertaken.

The Chairman emphasized that close inter-departmental coordination among all SLCCC members is the key to success of Phase-II and directed all departments to extend full support.

Earlier Director, Census Operations, Punjab-cum-Convenor, SLCCC Dr Navjot Khosa apprised the Committee that Phase-I i.e. House listing and Housing Census (HLO) has been successfully completed in the State.

The Convenor further informed that Government of India has notified the timeline for Phase-II vide Notification No. S.O. 4919(E) dated 5th September, 2026.