OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011 - Census of India

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OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011 - Census of India
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OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011

                          PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 1
OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011 - Census of India
“   Of creations, I am the beginning, the middle and the end;
    Of knowledge I am knowledge of the Supreme Self;
    Among speakers, I am words that are unbiased and    The Gita,
                                                             in Ch10:32
    pursuit of truth
                    ”                                 - The Gita, 10:32

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OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011 - Census of India
Overview of Census 2011

             1
OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011

                          1.1 INTRODUCTION
                          Census is a reflection of truth and facts as they exist in a country about its people, their diversity
                          of habitation, religion, culture, language, education, health and socio-economic status. The
                          word ‘Census’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Censere’ meaning ‘to assess or to rate’. In the
                          present context ‘population census’ in India is primarily an official enumeration through a
                          direct visit to all the people who are physically present and residing regularly or temporarily in
                          the country at a given point of time.

                          Today, India stands at cross roads of history. Recent significant advancements in country’s
                          economy have taken the country to the centre stage of world attention. Much of this progress
                          is intrinsically linked to the development of human resources. While on one side, growth of
                          population has been a cause for concern, the youth, the educated and the employed are
                          being seen as demographic dividends; especially in times when world population is ageing.
                          However with increasing disparities, the challenge for the decade to come would be to focus
                          on the millenium development goals (MDGs) and the sections of society that remain less
                          privileged in education, health and employment; failing which the dividend may well turn into
                          a demographic liability. Among the largest peace time operations ever in the world, Census of
                          India, 2011 is thus uniquely placed to provide comprehensive evidence leading to appropriate
                          policies that focus on such important goals for the Indian society.

ENUMERATION OF HIS EXCELLENCY, THE GOVERNOR OF MADHYA PRADESH

                                                                                   PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 3
OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011 - Census of India
Population is basic to production and distribution of material wealth. In order to plan for, and
                          implement, economic and social development, administrative activity or scientific research,
                          it is necessary to have reliable and detailed data on size, distribution and composition of
                          population. Population census is a primary source of these basic benchmark statistics, covering
                          not only the settled population but also homeless persons and nomadic groups. Data from
                          population censuses should allow presentation and analysis in terms of statistics on persons
                          and households and for a wide variety of geographical units, ranging from the country as a
                          whole to individual small localities, city wards and villages.

                          1.2 HISTORY
                          The earliest references of Census in India can be traced back to the Mauryan period in
                          Kautilaya’s ‘Arthashastra’ (321-296 BC) and later during the Mughal period in the writings of
                          Abul Fazl (1595-96) in the ‘Ain-e-Akbari’. Census, in its present scientific form was conducted
                          non synchronously between 1865 and 1872 in different parts of the country. This effort
                          culminating in 1872 has been popularly labelled as the first Census of India. However the first
                          synchronous Census in India was carried out in 1881. An unbroken chain of censuses since then
                          gives the Indian Census a unique historical legacy unparalleled in the world. Census 2011 is
                          the fifteenth Census in this continuous series from 1872 and the seventh since Independence.

                                                          History of Census in India
                                          Rig Veda                                      800-600 BC
                           Arthashastra                                                                   321-296 BC
                           Ain-e-Akbari                                                                      1595-96
                           First systematic census conducted
                                                                                                   1872 (1865-1872)
                           all over India (non-synchronous)
                           First Synchronous Census
                                                                                                                 1881
                           conducted all over India
                           Independent India                                                                    1951
                           Census of 2011                                      15th since 1872, 7th since Independence

ENUMERATION OF HON’BLE CHIEF MINISTER OF MADHYA PRADESH
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OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011 - Census of India
Overview of Census 2011

The State of Madhya Pradesh came into existence on 1st November, 1956 by way of consolidation
of three states of Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal; the Sironj region of Rajasthan
(sub-division in Vidisha District) and Mahakoshal area which was earlier included in Central
Province (CP & Berar). After reorganization of the state, first census was conducted in the year
1961. Census 2011 is the sixth census of the state in this continuous series.

1.3 METHODOLOGY
The Census of India is conducted once in a decade, following an extended de facto canvasser
method. Under this approach, data is collected from every individual by visiting the household
and canvassing the questionnaire all over the country, over a period of three weeks. The count
is then updated to the reference date and time by conducting a Revisional Round. In the
Revisional Round, changes in the entries that arise on account of births, deaths and migration
between the time of the enumerator’s visit and the reference date/time are noted down and
the record is updated.

In Census 2011, for Madhya Pradesh the first phase of House listing Operations or Housing
Census was completed between 7th May to 22nd June 2010. The second phase of canvassing
questionnaire for Population Enumeration was conducted from 9th to 28th of February 2011.
Enumeration of the houseless population was done on the night of 28th February. Revisional
Round was then conducted from 1st to 5th March 2011 and the count updated to the Reference
Moment of 00:00 hours of 1st March 2011.

1.4 ORGANISING THE CENSUS

In India, the population census is a Union subject (Article 246) and is listed at serial number 69 of
the seventh schedule of the constitution. The Census Act 1948 forms the legal basis for conduct
of census in independent India. Although the Census Act is an instrument of Central legislation,
in the scheme of its execution, state hierarchy is setup at all levels by State Governments for
the purpose of carrying out census. The Census Organisation under the Union Home Ministry
has been functioning on permanent footing ever since 1961 and provides a vital continuity to
conceive, plan and implement the programme of census taking in country. The Organisation
headed by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India has field offices in thirty three
States and Union territories. These are permanent Directorates headed by the Directors of Census
Operations, who are mainly responsible for the conduct of census in their respective jurisdiction.

The states appoint State Co-ordinators for furthering co-ordination between the Directorate,
Government of India and the State Government. Deputy Commissioners under the guidance of
Divisional Commissioners function as Divisional Census Officers at the Division level in Madhya
Pradesh. District Collectors as Principal Census Officers are responsible for the census work
in their respective districts. Municipal Commissioners are also Principal Census Officers for
census work in municipal corporation areas, although the overall responsibility for a district
rests with the Collector. They are assisted by District Census Officers and City Census Officers
respectively. In addition, every Tahsildar in Tahsil and Chief Municipal Officer in a municipal
body are designated as Charge Officers for their jurisdictional areas which are called Census
Charges. In addition to civilian areas, the second phase of Population Enumeration was
conducted simultaneously in military and para-military areas along-with other sensitive areas,
which are designated as Special Charges for Census Operations. Each Special Charge is headed
by a Special Charge Officer for census operations.

A Charge is further divided into Enumeration Blocks which are areas with 125 to 150 families

                                                         PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 5
OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011 - Census of India
and population of up to 800. Each enumeration block is allotted to an enumerator and a
    supervisor looks after a Supervisory Circle comprising of five or six enumeration blocks. Census
    2011 was successfully conducted in the state with the help of about 1.5 lac enumerators and
    supervisors.

    HIERARCHY OF CENSUS FUNCTIONARIES IN INDIA

         Registrar General & Census
         Commissioner, India

         Directors of Census Operations,
         State/UT
                                                           District Magistrates/Collectors/
                                                           Commissioners of Municipal
         Prinicipal Census Officers
                                                           Corporations

         Charge Officers                                   Tahsildars/Mamlatdars

                                                            Enumerators/Supervisors

                                         State Co-ordinators

    1.5 ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS
    At the time of creation, there were 43 districts in the state of Madhya Pradesh. But during the
    inter census period of 1971-81, two more districts, Rajnandgaon out of Durg and Bhopal out
    of Sehore were created. Thus, there were 45 districts in the state until 1991 census. In May-
    July’98, as a result of bifurcation and trifurcation of some of the districts, 16 more districts
    came into existence and thus the number of districts in the state rose to 61. On 1st November,
    2000 (precisely in the mid-night of 31st October) the new state of Chhattisgarh was carved out
    of Madhya Pradesh with an area of 135,191 Sq. Km. and 16 districts.

    After the Census of 2001, a new Division ‘Shahdol’ comprising of four districts namely Shahdol,
    Umaria, Anuppur and Dindori was carved out of Rewa and Jabalpur Divisions. The Hoshangabad
    Division has been renamed as Narmadapuram Division and Betul district included in
    Narmadapuram division from Bhopal division due to its geographical contiguity. During the
    decade five new districts were created in the state namely; Ashoknagar from Guna district,
    Anuppur from Shahdol district, Singrauli from Sidhi district, Burhanpur from Khargone district
    and Alirajpur from Jhabua district. For Census 2011, the number of tahsils has increased to 342
    from 259 in census 2001, an increase of 83 new tahsils during the decade. There have been a
    few changes in the numbers of villages and towns during the decade. The comparative position
    of various administrative units in the state in 2001 and 2011 censuses is as given below:-

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OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011 - Census of India
Overview of Census 2011

                                  Administrative unit                  2001             2011
                          Divisions                                         9              10
                          Districts                                      45               50
                          Tahsils                                       259              342
                          Community Development Blocks                  313              313
                          Number of Villages                         55,393           54,903
                           Number of Towns                             394              476

                           Statutory town is a notified urban area.

                           Census Town is a village with minimum population of 5000; population density of at least 400
                           persons/sq km; and where at least 75% of male main workers are engaged in non-agricultural
                           activities.

                           Outgrowth (OG) is an adjoining rural area to a statutory town with urban characteristics.

                           Urban agglomeration (UA) is a continuum of a town and its adjoining OG; or two or more
                           contiguous towns together and any adjoining OGs of such towns; or a continuous spread of a
                           city with one or more adjoining towns and their OGs. Minimum total population of UA should
                           be 20,000 with atleast one statutory town in it.

                         1.6 PLANNING FOR CENSUS 2011
                         The first step towards taking of Census 2011 was preparation of a complete and non-duplicated
                         list of all geographical entities in the state, which includes Districts, Tahsils, Towns and Villages.
                         Boundaries of all administrative units in the State were frozen as on 31st December 2009. This
                         exercise also involved obtaining the latest maps of districts, tahsils and towns.

                         A directory of administrative units with unique identification code for each unit was prepared
                         to ensure that every administrative unit is covered without omission or duplication. A unique
                         feature of coding system in Census 2011 is that it identifies Villages, Statutory Towns, Census
                         Towns and Forest Villages by separate series of codes.

ENUMERATION OF THE CHIEF SECRETARY, GOVERNMENT OF MADHYA PRADESH

                                                                                   PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 7
OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011 - Census of India
Next important step as part of pre-census activities was finalisation of the Rural-Urban frame.
                          This exercise helped to prepare a complete up to date list of Statutory and Census Towns and
                          villages as urban and rural areas respectively. The demarcation of Out-Growths of Towns and
                          Urban Agglomerations was also taken up as a part of this exercise.

                          Overall 374 Statutory Towns, 112 Census Towns, 37 Urban Agglomerations and 86 Out Growths
                          were identiied in Census 2011 for the state of Madhya Pradesh.

                          CENSUS HOUSE NUMBER
                          To ensure complete coverage of all buildings and dwelling units, allotment of census house
                          numbers is an essential pre-requisite. All over the state house numbering was done before the
                          House Listing Operations with the help of district administration and local bodies. Darkening of
                          house numbering was again carried out before the Population Enumeration exercise to ensure
                          complete and proper coverage.

                          PREPARATION OF CHARGE REGISTER AND AHL
                          Charge register is the fundamental document for carrying out the census operations in a
                          charge by a Charge Officer. It contains the details of villages and towns along with their
                          ward, the enumeration blocks, names and phone numbers of the appointed enumerators
                          and supervisors. Housing enumeration blocks were carved for the first phase of house listing
                          operation keeping into account the jurisdictional boundaries of various administrative units.
                          These were later revised into Population enumeration blocks for the second and main phase
                          of population enumeration based on the number of census houses and population estimates
                          collected in the first phase. Abridged House List (AHL) was prepared for every enumeration
                          block which enlisted all census houses and their numbers covered during the first phase.
                          The AHL is the base document carried by an enumerator for population enumeration during
                          the second phase. Trainings for preparation of charge registers and AHLs were organized for
                          all charge officers and their assistants at the district level. Charge registers and AHLs were
                          thoroughly examined and corrected by the district officials and the directorate staff.

RGI AND PS(HOME) IN CONFERENCE ON “CENSUS 2011 : IMPORTANCE AND UTILITY” FOR GOVERNMENT STAKEHOLDERS

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OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011 - Census of India
Overview of Census 2011

CARTOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM
Census is an authentic source of political and administrative geography. The Cartographic
Division of the Census Organisation has evolved over the years and is now the largest
producer of thematic maps in the country. It has come a long way from the traditional manual
cartographic methods used until 1981 and now utilizes the latest GIS software to produce digital
maps. Directorate has a fully equipped Map Division with latest GIS (Geographical Information
System) software. A new effort in Census 2011 was the preparation of digital map of Bhopal
city, upto the level of streets and buildings, using satellite imagery. This digital map was used
to carve out the enumeration blocks in the city.

5 new districts, 83 new tahsils and several new villages and towns have come up since 2001.
Maps of all the administrative units were obtained and updated by incorporating the changes.

In addition to the above, the print outs of digital maps with boundaries of villages and towns
were provided to all the Charge Officers to help them demarcate their enumeration blocks and
supervisory circles. This eliminated any omissions or duplications of areas.

NOTIFICATIONS REGARDING CONDUCT OF CENSUS 2011
The Census of India is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census
Rules, 1990. The statute requires the notification of various processes under provisions of
the Act and its Rules. Accordingly, various orders and statutory provisions have been duly
notified in the Gazette of India as well as in the Gazette of Madhya Pradesh after following the
processes laid down. The various Notifications are listed below:

 Notification regarding the intention of the Government of India to conduct a Census of the
population of India in 2011 was published in the Gazette of India on 20th February 2009 and in
the Gazette of Madhya Pradesh on 5th May 2009

 In the same Notification, the Reference Date was also notified as 00.00 hours of the first
day of March 2011 (except for the snow-bound areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh
and Uttarakhand). In the snow bound areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and
Uttarakhand the Reference Date was notified as 00.00 hours of the first day of October 2010.

 Notification regarding the conduct of House listing and Housing Census from 1st April 2010
to 30th September 2010 in different States and Union Territories was published in the Gazette
of India on 25th February 2010.

 Simultaneously, the Notification regarding the conduct of House listing and Housing Census
in Madhya Pradesh from 7th May to 22nd June 2010 and the questions to be canvassed was
published in the Gazette of Madhya Pradesh on 12th April 2010.

 Notification regarding the conduct of National Population Register (which was also done
along with the House Listing Operations) in Madhya Pradesh from 7th May to 22nd June 2010
was published in the Gazette of Madhya Pradesh on 12th April 2010.

 The Notification regarding the questions to be canvassed in the Population Enumeration
was published in the Gazette of India on 31st August 2010 and in the Gazette of Madhya
Pradesh on 21st September 2010.

                                                       PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 9
OVERVIEW OF CENSUS 2011 - Census of India
NATIONAL POPULATION REGISTER
     Canvassing for National Population Register (NPR) was done alongwith the first phase of Housing Census. NPR has legal
     provisions under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of citizens and issue of National Identity
     Cards) Rules, 2003. NPR is based on Local Register of Usual Residents (LRUR) for every village and ward and is designed
     to include every usual resident of the country with the help of fifteen fields of information, along-with photographs,
     bio-metric prints of ten fingers and iris scan of both eyes, to be captured as per UID standards. Based on this data,
     the residents would be issued an MNIC (Multi-purpose National Identity Card) with UID number (issued by the UID
     authority). The MNIC would also contain 5-10 other official numbers like driving license, PAN card, NREG job cards,
     ration cards etc. Approximately 1.60 crore schedules of NPR were canvassed during the first phase of census in Madhya
     Pradesh, which have been scanned in the directorate and are ready for the capture of photographs and biometrics to be
     executed by the Department of Information Technology (DIT). In addition, permanent NPR centres are being planned for
     all tahsils and municipal bodies of the state.

                                 PRINTING
                                 A feature that makes the Indian Census particularly complex is that the schedules are canvassed
                                 in 16 languages and the Instruction Manuals are developed in 18 languages. Since Madhya
                                 Pradesh is a Hindi speaking state, all the census material viz. Instruction Manuals, Abridged
                                 House list, Household Schedules for National Population Register, Houselisting and Housing
                                 Census Schedules, Household Schedules for Population Enumeration and other census material
                                 were printed in Hindi language.

                                 All the schedules required for the state were printed centrally in high end presses having
                                 facility of variable printing and very high production volumes. Other census materials were
                                 printed in the Central Government Press in Faridabad and in the State Government Press of
                                 Madhya Pradesh.

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Overview of Census 2011

LOGISTICS
As regards the transportation of material, a pioneering initiative of using the India Post for
handling the logistics was undertaken. A special ‘Logistics Post’ arrangement was put in place
by India Post for Census 2011. In Madhya Pradesh the schedules used for canvassing of census
were printed in the high-end presses and dispatched directly to the charges. The other census
material were dispatched by the Directorate of Census Operations through local arrangements.
The return dispatch of all the material was received back in the Directorate from the charges
through Indian Post.

1.7 CENSUS CO-ORDINATION AND MANAGEMENT
Successful census operations require timely and effective co-ordination at state, district,
village and ward levels. For this purpose various committees and census working groups were
constituted.

STATE LEVEL
Liaisoning with various departments of the State Government was made possible with the
help of a committee under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary, constituted with Principal
Secretaries and Secretaries of different departments of the State Government as members.
Other invited members included the State Representative of UNICEF. Concomitant circulars for
census planning, budget, management, human resources, training and publicity were issued by
the departments of Home Affairs, Finance, General Administration, Health, Education, Urban
development, Forest, Rural Development, PRIs and Social Welfare.

DISTRICT LEVEL
District Census group was constituted under the chairmanship of Collector for proper
management of census operations at the district level. Heads of different departments of
district administration including Chief Executive Officer of Zila Panchayat, District Planning
Officer, District Education Officer, Deputy Directors of different departments, Sub-Division
Officers, Charge Officers and Civil Society Organisations (CSO) were members. Weekly meetings
were held to review the census work.

VILLAGE/WARD LEVEL
Census groups at Village and Ward level were constituted to provide the element of community
participation, local wisdom and popular support to census operations at the grass roots. The
group in a village was headed by the Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat with members including
members of the Village Development Committee, Forest Committee (in forest areas), Project
Committee (wherever there are development projects), Self Help Groups, village level workers
like ‘Patwari’ (local revenue official), Secretary of Village Panchayat, Asha, Anganwadi Workers
and ‘Village Kotwar’ (local watchman). In wards of urban bodies the members included the
Ward Counsellors, Secretaries of Housing Societies and Ward Officials.

1.8 STATE LEVEL WORKSHOPS
Three state level workshops were organized with support of the State office of UNICEF. The
workshops helped involve stakeholders like State Government Departments, Civil Society
Organisations (CSOs), and Media for their active participation in Census 2011. First workshop
on ‘Role of Civil Societies in Census’ was held on 26th October,2010 which was attended by

                                                      PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 11
CSOs working in the state and helped evolve strategies for coverage of deprived sections like
     people with disabilities, shelterless and nomadic population, primitive tribes and people living
     in forest areas or urban slums in Census 2011. Second workshop on ‘Census 2011: Importance
     and Utility’ was held on 21st January, 2011 for government stakeholders which was presided
     over by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India and Principal Secretary (Home)
     to State Government and was attended by Principal Secretaries/ Secretaries of different
     departments of the State Government and District Census Officers. Third workshop on ‘ Role
     of Media in Census’ was held on 4th February, 2011 to sensitize the media on the importance
     of census and to discuss the role in educating the people at large about census.

     1.9 CAPACITY BUILDING of census functionaries
     Need for comprehensive capacity building of all functionaries, especially of enumerators and
     supervisors can hardly be underscored for successful taking of census. A three tier cascade of
     training was devised for this purpose. At the top of the pyramid was a group of six National
     Trainers (NTs) in the state of Madhya Pradesh. This group was rigorously trained at the national
     level for 5 days at a residential training camp. The NTs trained 45 Master Trainer Facilitators
     (MTFs) at the State level. Half of the NTs and MTFs were drawn from CSOs, which functioned
     under the banner of Centre for Advanced Research and Development (CARD). The MTFs in
     turn, trained 3,340 Master Trainers (MTs) at the District level. The MTs ultimately trained 1.5
     lac enumerators and supervisors at the charge level.

     Special efforts were made to improve the Instruction Manual by including more illustrations and
     examples. Training Guides were prepared to help the trainers impart quality training. Trainers at
     each level – nation, state and district levels were given intensive in-house training and provided
     training aids, such as power point presentations, e-learning modules, scripts of role plays and
     practice sheets. Special training modules were developed for explaining the issues related to
     disability and gender. Another special training effort was made in development of training
     modules for gender sensitive districts. In addition, CSOs working in the field of disability and
     gender were associated with Census 2011 for training the trainers at all the levels.

     It was felt that sensitization of census functionaries towards various important social issues was
     equally important in improving the quality of census enumeration. For this purpose, two films
     on disability and migration were specially produced by the Directorate of Census Operations,
     in collaboration with CSOs - ‘Arushi’ and ‘Aid-et Action’ respectively. In addition an e-learning
     module with role-plays in animation was prepared by the Office of RGI was extensively used
     in all trainings. These films and e-module were much appreciated during the training classes
     at all levels. Live appeals and demonstration for sensitization towards enumeration of the
     people with disabilities was effectively done with the help of ‘Arushi’ and other CSOs. Similarly
     ‘Arambh’, another CSO, shared their expertise for the enumeration of shelterless in urban
     areas. ‘Arushi’ and ‘Arambh’ covered all the division level trainings and various other district
     level trainings.

     It needs to be mentioned that the entire training strategy was a collaborative effort between
     the UN Agencies (UNFPA, UNICEF, and UNDP) on one hand and Census Organisation on the
     other. State office of UNICEF played a key role for the state of Madhya Pradesh in this regard.

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Overview of Census 2011

                                   GENDER SENSITIZATION
                                   Gender disaggregated data is the basis for gender sensitive policy formulation and programme
                                   planning. The need for gender statistics in formulating policies and programmes can hardly be
                                   over-emphasized.

                                   Conceptually, information collected in Census is gender neutral and compiled and tabulated for
                                   both men and women separately. The Questionnaire and Instruction Manual for collection of
                                   information in the field have been carefully designed to avoid any bias on the basis of gender.
                                   The training of Census functionaries also focuses on this aspect of neutrality.

                                   Gender sensitivities like age at marriage, marital status, literacy and economic activities in
                                   unorganized and unpaid work are important characteristics for coverage during census. In all
                                   the 16 Gender critical districts of Madhya Pradesh, specially trained gender MTFs (GMTFs)
                                   trained the MTs and census field staff.

                                   1.10 TRAINING PLAN FOR FIRST PHASE

                                                                                          STATE LEVEL TRAINING
                                                                                          State level training was conducted at
                                                                                          state headquarter by the Directorate on
                                                                                          27th March, 2010 in which Municipal
                                                                                          Commissioners & Principal Census
                                                                                          Officers of Municipal Corporations,
                                                                                          Divisional Census Officers, District
                                                                                          Census Officers, additional District
                                                                                          Census Officers & City Census Officers
                                                                                          participated. The training was imparted
                                                                                          by the expert faculty of trained NTs

                                   DISTRICT LEVEL TRAINING
                                   District level trainings were held at district headquarters between 5th to 10th April 2010 for
                                   Charge Officers and 12th to 17th April 2010 for Master Trainers (MTs). In this training of three
                                   days duration, two days were reserved for House Listing Operation and one day for National
                                   Population Register. Collector & Principal Census Officers, District Census Officers, additional

The Night
Count
Night of February 28 and wee
hours of March 1st, 2011 is
the last leg of the census and
is reserved for the head count
of people living on streets or
the houseless like beggars,
rag     pickers,    construction
workers and nomadic tribes.
All census officials were in
the field through out       the
night     teaming     up   with
enumerators for inclusion of
such people in Census 2011.

                                                                                         PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 13
District Census Officers, City Census Officers, Charge Officers and Master trainers were trained
     in this way. The trainings were conducted by the faculty of trained National Trainers (NTs) and
     MTFs drawn from the Directorate and CARD (CSO).

     CHARGE LEVEL TRAINING
     Charge level trainings for enumerators and supervisors were organised at charge headquarters
     between 22nd April and 5th May 2010. The three days training was given by the MTs which
     included two days for the House Listing Operation and one day for NPR.

     1.11 TRAINING PLAN FOR SECOND PHASE

     STATE LEVEL TRAINING
     State level training was conducted by the Directorate at the state headquarter on 4th December
     2010 for Divisional Census officers, Municipal Commissioners and Principal Census Officers of
     Municipal Corporations, District Census Officers, additional District Census Officers and City
     Census Officers. A separate state level training was organized for Special Charge Officers at
     state headquarters on 26th November 2010. The trainings were conducted by the faculty of
     trained NTs.

     DIVISION LEVEL TRAINING
     Division level trainings were held at the divisional headquarters from 8th to 27th December
     2010 in which Divisional Commissioners, Collectors and Principal Census Officers, Municipal
     Commissioners and Principal Census Officers, Divisional Census Officers, District Census
     Officers, additional District Census Officers, City Census Officers & Charge Officers were
     trained. The Divisional trainings were organized by the Directorate with the active support of
     state office of UNICEF. The trainings were conducted by the faculty of trained NTs and MTFs.

     DISTRICT LEVEL TRAINING
     District level trainings were held at the district headquarters during 5th and 13th January 2011.
     The Charge Officers and MTs were trained in this three day training by the faculties of trained
     NTs and MTFs.

     CHARGE LEVEL TRAINING
     Charge level trainings were held at the charge headquarters from 15th to 31st January 2011.
     All the enumerators and supervisors were trained for three days by the MTs. The census field
     staff took ‘Census Oath’ after collecting the census material on 4th or 5th February 2011 and
     assumed duties of their allotted EBs.

     1.12 VILLAGE/ WARD CENSUS PLAN
     It was felt that community wisdom with the help of people’s participation would enhance quality
     and coverage in census. To this end, Village and Ward Census Groups prepared Village/ Ward
     Census Plans in all villages and wards of the state. Vital local information like various habitations
     in village/ ward, people with disabilities, Schedule Caste/Schedule Tribe population, nomadic
     population, institutional households and houseless persons were mentioned in the Village/
     Ward Census Plans. This also helped to garner local support for the census enumerators.

14
Overview of Census 2011

                                       1.13 COMMUNICATION PLAN
                                       Detailed district and charge level Communication Plans were prepared in the state. The plans
                                       helped ensure timely communication of census related information for effective monitoring and
                                       supervision. The plans consisted of two parts. One part comprised of mobile phone numbers of
                                       all census enumerators and supervisors. The other part comprised of mobile phone numbers
                                       of local residents who provided information about census coverage in their locality.

                                       The Communication Plans were operationalised by control rooms which were set up at all
                                       levels, from the Directorate to the districts and municipal corporations to charges. Control
                                       rooms were equipped with all communication facilities like telephones, faxes and computers
                                       with internet facilities. The plans were very successful in collecting and relaying information
                                       from the field about operations management and helped in redressal of complaints in real time

                                       USE OF SMS FOR CENSUS FUNCTIONARIES
                                       Mobile phone numbers of census field staff collected with the help of Communication Plans
                                       were intensively used to send important messages to all the census functionaries using bulk
                                       Short Message Service (SMS) through a free service (way2SMS) from the Directorate of
                                       Census Operations. At one go, the directorate was able to relay information to all the census
                                       functionaries at the division, district, charge and supervisor level. On similar lines districts
                                       followed the method of communication with their enumerators.

                                       1.14 PUBLICITY and Media plan

                                       NATIONAL LEVEL
                                       All modes of Publicity - Mass media, Public relations, Outreach activities and Digital media
                                       were used to spread awareness and ensure the cooperation of all stakeholders. A scientific
                                       media plan was designed by a professional agency that also created the media content in both
                                       the phases of the Census. While the general theme was that of including everybody without
                                       omission, special emphasis was laid on vulnerable groups like women, elderly, disabled, infants,
                                       homeless and primitive tribes in forest and remote areas. Celebrity endorsements were also
                                       broadcast.

Census of
Primitive Tribes
Patalkot region comprises twelve
villages and thirteen hamlets
located in deep depression of a
valley where ridges separate the
villages. Located in Tamia tahsil of
Chhindwara district, the region is
predominantly inhabited by the
Gonds and the primitive Bharia
tribes. The villages in this region
can be visited by foot through a
narrow trail that goes down the
steep hills.                                                                                                PHOTO COURTESY : UNICEF

                                                                                             PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 15
STATE LEVEL
                        Media and publicity plan was prepared at the Directorate and all the districts of the state, using
                        separate strategies for rural and urban areas.

                        Appeals to general public for co-operation in census were issued by His Excellency the Governor
                        and Honourable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and were published on the first day of
“Tumhara haq hai,       operations during both the phases of Census 2011.
tum ginti mein aao      In order to create popular awareness about census in public, appeals from national and state
Jo bhi ho, Jaise bhi    level brand ambassadors were used in creatives and designs of publicity material, while their
ho, naam likhao”        endorsements were broadcast on radio and television. Mr. Gulzar (poet and lyricist) rendered
                        a special couplet for Census 2011 in Madhya Pradesh, and appealed for the enumeration of
               Gulzar
                        people with disabilities.

                        Theme based posters, banners, stickers and hoardings were prepared with help of a professional
                        agency, ‘Madhyam’ (State Publicity Corporation) and support of the state office of UNICEF.
                        They were extensively used in cities and villages, on airports, railway and bus stations, on
                        public transport, government and private vehicles and ATM machines (Punjab National Bank)
                        for creating mass awareness.

                        Census 2011 also made use of internet social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and
                        YouTube to make available census related information for the net-savvy sections of society.
                        Directorate launched its own website, set up Madhya Pradesh census page on Facebook and
                        started a channel on YouTube with census related videos.

                        A special video spot on people with disabilities was prepared in collaboration with ‘Arushi’
                        and UNICEF. Various other audio and video spots were produced and broadcast over All India
                        Radio, local FM channels and Doordarshan. The spots were adopted nationally and broadcast
                        in all Hindi speaking states. These were also used on cable television networks and cinema
                        halls across the state. Talk shows were organised in the studios of All India Radio, FM channels,
                        Doordarshan and Gyan Darshan (IGNOU radio channel)

                        Mobile telephone networks were used to send bulk Short Message Service (SMS) with
                        census slogans to mobile phone users for mass awareness about census enumeration with
                        complementary support of mobile companies like BSNL, Airtel, Reliance and Tata Indicom.
                        Census slogans were also printed on electricity bills with the support of electricity distribution
                        companies, and census stickers were pasted on packets of milk products by the State Milk
                        Federation.

                        In the parade and celebrations held on the Republic day in the State Capital as well as in many
                        districts, census tableaus depicting various themes of Census of 2011 were displayed.

                        The directorate also organized a “car rally for the blind” at Bhopal in collaboration with ‘Arushi’
                        and other sponsors of the event like ‘Sight savers’. The rally was unique in that while the cars
                        were driven by volunteers of Bhopal city in their own vehicles, the blind people - who came
                        from all over the state - were navigators and were given codes in Braille to chart the rally route.
                        A photo exhibition on disability with Gulzar’s couplets was displayed at various locations in
                        Bhopal city, including the Secretariat and the Vidhan Sabha. The events were well covered in
                        the media and helped in enumeration coverage of people with disabilities in Census 2011.

                        DISTRICT, CHARGE AND VILLAGE LEVELS
                        Lots of events across the state in various districts and charges were organized to create mass

16
Overview of Census 2011

awareness about Census 2011, like talk shows on radio and television, car and cycle rallies,
street plays, marathons, ‘kavi-sammelans’, quizzes, debates and essay writing competitions
for school and college students etc. Many more were done during the Census Week from 26th
January to 2nd February. Rallies for enumeration of people with disabilities were organised
in Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur and many other places by the district administration. A special
mention may be made of Sehore for exemplary efforts made by the census team in the district.

Census was listed as an important agenda item of the Gram Sabha meetings held on the
occasion of the Republic Day, 26th January, 2011. Block level conferences of members of PRIs
(Panchayati Raj Institutions) were also organised in all the blocks of the state during December
2010 and January 2011 to sensitize them about Census 2011.

Janganana Suchana Khidki (census information windows) were set up in Haat Bazars (rural
markets) and fairs (melas) all over the state to convey information about census to rural folk.
Wall writing of census slogans and public announcements were extensively used in both urban
and rural areas.

1.15 CENSUS IN SCHOOLS
A new initiative of ‘Census in Schools’ was launched across the country. Purpose of this
programme was to make the children aware about the census enumeration of their families and
neighborhoods and also to expose them to the significance of census data in the development
of the country. The programme covered about 60 to 80 schools in each of the 640 Districts in
the country and was specifically designed for participation by the students of the entire school
in general and the students of class VI, VII and VIII in particular.

In Madhya Pradesh the original kits received from the office of Registrar General of India
were sent to all the ‘Head Start Schools’ along-with a census media CD with power-point
presentations, census e-learning module and audio-video spots for organizing activities in the
schools. The Commissioner of Rajya Shiksha Kendra, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh in turn replicated
the kits and sent them to all 1.15 lac primary and middle schools of the state.

1.16 Changes in the Houselisting and Housing Census
Schedules
The attempt at every Census is to maintain continuity in order to allow comparisons and give
a time series of data. However, every Census also permits a few changes in keeping with the
demands of stake holders. The changes made in Census 2011 are as follows:

(i) Type of wall: A differentiation has been made between ‘stone packed with mortar’ and
‘stone not packed with mortar’. The Codes in Census 2011 are:

          Census 2001                Code                 Census 2011                Code
 Grass/thatch/bamboo                   1         Grass/thatch/bamboo                   1
 Plastic/polythene                     2         Plastic/polythene                     2
 Mud/ unburnt brick                    3         Mud/unburnt brick                     3
 Wood                                  4         Wood                                  4
 GI/metal/asbestos sheets              5         Stone packed with mortar              5
 Burnt Brick                           6         Stone not packed with mortar          6
 Stone                                 7         GI/metal/asbestos sheets              7
 Concrete                              8         Burnt Brick                           8
 Any Other                             9         Concrete                              9
                                                 Any Other                             0
                                                      PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 17
(ii) Type of roof: The Codes for material of roof have been modified by distinguishing hand-
     made tiles from machine made-tiles. The codes used in Census 2011 compared to the Census
     2001 are given below:

                 Census 2001               Code                  Census 2011             Code
      Grass/thatch/bamboo/wood/                1     Grass/thatch/bamboo/wood/mud             1
      mud etc.                                       etc.
      Plastic/polythene                        2     Plastic/polythene                        2
      Tiles                                    3     Hand made tiles                          3
      Slate                                    4     Machine made tiles                       4
      GI/metal/asbestos sheets                 5     Burnt brick                              5
      Brick                                    6     Stone                                    6
      Stone                                    7     Slate                                    7
      Concrete                                 8     GI/metal/asbestos sheets                 8
      Any Other                                9     Concrete                                 9
                                                     Any other                                0

     (iii) Main source of drinking water: The heading of the question has been changed from
     “Drinking water source” to “Main source of drinking water”. Drinking water cannot be
     classified as ‘safe’ or ‘unsafe’ without proper testing. However an attempt has been made for
     improving the categorisation of the sources of drinking water through provision of separate
     codes for ‘tap water from treated source’ and ‘tap water from untreated source’. The set
     of codes as used in Census 2011 and the corresponding Census 2001 Codes are as follows:

                 Census 2001               Code                    Census 2011               Code
                  Drinking Water Source                      Main Source of Drinking Water
      Tap                                      1    Tap water from treated source             1
      Handpump                                 2    Tap water from untreated source           2
      Tubewell                                 3    Covered well                              3
      Well                                     4    Un-covered well                           4
      Tank/pond/lake                           5    Hand pump                                 5
      River/canal                              6    Tube well/borehole                        6
      Spring                                   7    Spring                                    7
      Any Other                                8    River/canal                               8
                                                    Tank/pond/lake                            9
                                                    Other Sources                             0

     (iv) Source of Lighting: The heading has been modified as ‘Main Source of Lighting’

     (v) Bathing facility within premises: Realising that bathroom within the house was a
     predominantly urban phenomenon, the heading has been changed as bathing facility within
     the premises. Moreover, the categories have been expanded to include ‘Enclosure without
     roof’. The code list for the Census 2011 along with codes as were in Census 2001 are given
     below:

               Census 2001                Code                Census 2011               Code
               Bathroom within the house             Bathing facility available within premises
      Yes                                  1         Bathroom                             1
      No                                   2         Enclosure without roof               2
                                                     No                                   3
18
Overview of Census 2011

(vi) Latrine: In Census 2001, information was sought on the availability of latrine ‘within the
house’; in Census 2011 it has been modified as available ‘Within the premises”. Attempt has
also been made to include other types of latrines. These categories are more in keeping with
the WHO/UNICEF categories. The set of codes as used in Census 2011 and the corresponding
Census 2001 Codes are as follows:

          Census 2001               Code                      Census 2011                Code
 No Latrine                             0     Flush/pour flush latrine connected to
 Service Latrine                        1     Piped sewer system                           1
 Pit Latrine                            2     Septic system                                2
 Water Closet                           3     Other system                                 3
                                              Pit Latrine
                                              With slab/Ventilated Improved Pit            4
                                              Without slab/open pit                        5
                                              Night soil disposed into open drain          6
                                              Service Latrine
                                              Night soil removed by human                  7
                                              Night soil serviced by animals               8
                                              No latrine within premises
                                              Public Latrine                               9
                                              Open                                         0

(vii) Computer: This is a new question. Computer and internet penetration in the country is still
a matter of conjecture as there are no authentic sources for this data. The Census 2011 would
give rich data on this, which would be a vital input for policy planning. The codes for the new
question in Census 2011 are as follows:

                   Census 2011                       Code
 Computer/Laptop possessed
 Yes
   With Internet                                      1
   Without Internet                                   2
 No                                                   3

(viii) Telephone: The scope of the question on Telephone has been expanded to sepa-
rately include Mobile Phone also. With the rapid expansion of Mobile Phone cover-
age, traditional land line telephones have become less attractive. The present Cen-
sus would give rich data on this aspect. The codes in Census 2011 are as follows:

  Census 2001          Code       Census 2011         Code
          Telephone               Telephone/
                                 Mobile phone
 Yes                     1       Yes
                                   Landline only          1
                                   Mobile only            2
 No                      2       Both                     3
                                 No                       4

                                                          PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 19
Features of the Census 2011 Questionnaires
     • Forms designed by National Institute of Design, Ahmadabad
     • Each Form has a Bar Code and a distinct Number
     • Printed in select high-end Presses having capacity for digital printing
     • Special colours used to enable complete drop-out after scanning
     • Pre-printing of State and District Location Codes attempted for the first time
     • Facility for noting continuity made in the Form
     • Specification for Paper evolved in consultation with experts
     • Paper quality

                                 1.17 NEW FEATURES IN HOUSEHOLD SCHEDULE

                                 a) Pre-printing of Location particulars up to District: A highlight of Census 2011 was the
                                 pre-printing of location codes up to District level and the use of shorter Location Codes in the
                                 field. This reduced the burden on the Enumerators to an extent and improved compliance in
                                 the writing of location Codes on every Schedule.

                                 b) Printing of Bar Codes/ Form Number: The introduction of unique Form Number and
                                 Bar Codes in each Schedule was a new feature. This greatly facilitated proper inventory
                                 management and tracking of Schedules.

                                 c) Colour Drop-Out: The colours chosen for printing the Schedule were such that they
                                 dropped out totally after scanning. This is designed to facilitate considerable improvement in
                                 Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR).

                                 d) Edge Cut: Cutting one edge in the Schedule is designed to facilitate proper alignment of
                                 Schedules during scanning.

                                 e) Linking of Houselisting with Population Enumeration: A procedure to link the Housing
                                 Census data of matched households to the Population Enumeration data has been attempted
                                 for the first time.

                                 f) Tracking system in case of more than one form is used: A provision to record the number
                                 of the continuation forms used in the case of normal/Institutional households where more
                                 than one Schedule has been used.

                                 g) Description of Institutional Households: A provision has been made for recording the
                                 description of Institutional households.

                                 h) Gender: In a radical departure from the past, a provision has been made for the respondent
                                 to return a gender other than male or female. This is an option to be exercised by the respondent
                                 and not determined by the Enumerator.

                                 i) Date of birth: A provision has been made to record age in completed years as well as date of
                                 birth. This is expected to improve reporting of age at least among a section of the population.

                                 j) Current marital status: Separate Codes have been assigned for ‘Divorced’ and ‘Separated’.

                                 k) Disability: The question on disability has been vastly enlarged in Census 2011. In
                                 comparison to the 5 Codes in Census 2001, 8 Codes have been provided in the present Census.
                                 The new Codes are: Mental Retardation, Mental Illness, Any Other and Multiple Disability.
                                 The questions and the instructions have been finalised after extensive deliberation with civil

20
Overview of Census 2011

society organisations and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Respondents with
multiple disability would now be able to report up to 3 disabilities for the first time.

l) Status of current attendance in educational institution: Separate codes have been given for
persons who have never attended any educational institution and persons who have attended
earlier. An additional code for recording persons attending special institution for the disabled
has also been added.

m) Worked any time during last year: The question on Work Status has been modified as
below:

Main Worker

If worked for 6 months or more

Marginal Worker

If worked for 3 months or more but less than 6 months

If worked for less than 3 months

Non Worker

If not worked at all

Such a classification would not only retain the older categorization of Main, Marginal and Non
Worker but would also offer richer data on the period of work.

n) Non-economic activity: A category of ‘Others’ has been included to account for commercial
sex workers and persons involved in illegal activities. A new code for ‘rentier’ has also been
introduced.

o) Migration: While processing of the Census 2001 data, it was found that the non-response
with respect to providing the district names was relatively more both in the question on
place of birth and place of last residence. It was felt that as the names of the districts might
have undergone a change, the respondent was unable to provide the correct names. Thus, in
Census 2011, an added item, namely, the name of village/town has been added in both these
questions.

p) Number of children born alive during last one year: Mention of the specific period ‘1st
March, 2010 to 28th February, 2011’ on the body of the Schedule has been done.

QUESTIONS DROPPED
a) Household engaged in cultivation/plantation : The following question was canvassed in
Census 2001: ‘Total net area of land under cultivation/plantation’ ; ‘Net area of irrigated land’
and ‘Tenure status of land under cultivation/plantation’. The question was canvassed but could
not be tabulated on account of widespread non-response. There were also other technical
problems like, variation in the units of measurment, comparability with other sources of data
namely, the Agricultural Census, land holding survey of the NSS, etc. Hence it was decided to
drop this questions in Census 2011.

b) A comparision of the questions proposed in Census 2011 with the questions canvassed in
Census 2011 is presented below.

                                                       PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 21
Sl.                 Census 2001                                  Census 2011                                   Remarks
 No
 1     Name of person                               Name of the person                         No Change
 2     Relationship to head                         Relationship to head                       No Change
 3     Sex                                          Sex                                        Provision for returning a gender other than
                                                                                               male or female
 4     Age in completed years                       Date of Birth                              Date of Birth in addition to age
 5     Current marital status                       Current marital status                     Seperate code for ‘Divorced’ and
                                                                                               ‘Seperated’
 6     Age at marriage                              Age at marriage                            No Change
 7     Religion                                     Religion                                   No Change
 8     Mother tongue                                Mother tongue                              No Change
 9     Other languages known                        Other languages known                      No Change
 10    Literacy status                              Literacy status                            No Change
 11    Highest educational level attained           Highest educational level attained         No Change
 12    Status of attendance in educational          Status of attendance in educational        Seperate Code for persons who have never
       institution                                  institution                                attended and who have attended before
 13    Disability                                   Disability                                 Question modified. Three questions instead
                                                                                               of one.
 14    Did the person work any time last year       Worked any time during last year           Additional code for two types of marginal
                                                                                               workers (3-6 months, less than 3 months)
       For main or marginal worker
 15    Category of economic activity                Work category                              No Change
 16    Occupation of the person                     Occupation                                 No Change
 17    Describe in detail the nature of industry,   Nature of industry, trade or service       No Change
       trade or service
 18    Class of worker                              Class of worker                            No Change
       For marginal workers or non-workers
 19    Record Code of non-economic activity         Non-economic activity                      Adding a seperate code for rentiers
 20    Is the person seeking/available for work     Seeking/available for work                 No Change

       For other workers
 21    Journey to place to work
 22    Distance from residence to place of work     One way distance from usual                No Change
       in kilometers                                residence to place of work in
                                                    kilometers
 23    Mode of travel to place of work (Code)       Mode of travel to place of work (Code)     No Change
 24    Birth place                                  Birth place                                Name of village/town is also added
 25    Place of last residence                      Place of last residence                    Name of village/town is also added
 26    At the time of migration, was the place of   At the time of migration, was the          No Change
       last residence Rural/Urban                   place of last residence Rural/Urban
 27    Reason for migration of this person          Reason for migration of this person        No Change
 28    Duration of stay in this village or town     Duration of stay in this village or town   No Change
       since migration                              since migration
       For ever married woman
 29    Number of children surviving at present      Number of children surviving at            No Change
                                                    present
 30    Total no. of children ever born alive        Total no. of children ever born alive      No Change
       For currently married woman
 31    Number of children born alive during last    Number of children born alive during       No Change
       one year                                     last one year
       For household engaged in cultivation/
       plantation
 32    Total net area of land under cultivation/                                               Dropped
       plantation
       For currently married woman
 33    Net area of irrigated land                                                              Dropped
 34    Tenure status of land under cultivation/                                                Dropped
       plantation

22
Overview of Census 2011

1.18 MONITORING and supervision
Honourable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh wrote to all the Ministers, Members of
Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly and Chair-persons of Zilla Panchayats to elicit
their participation for complete census coverage in the state. Similarly Hon’ble Home Minister
wrote to all Mayors of municipal corporations and Chair-persons of municipal bodies.

The State Government issued circular for inspection of census in the field by Principal
Secretaries / Secretaries of various departments in all the districts of the state to ensure
quality and complete coverage. The senior officers inspected the census work in districts and
provided valuable guidance to Principal/ District census officers and their census field staff and
submitted their reports to the Department of Home Affairs. The operations were found to be
satisfactory.

The directorate has been in regular touch with the divisions, districts and charges by way of
video-conferences. As many as 16 video-conferences (VCs) were organized with support of
National Informatics Centre (NIC) for training on important issues and periodic monitoring
of census operations. Divisional census officers, Principal Census Officers (Collectors and
Municipal Commissioners), District and City Census Officers and Charge Officers attended the
VCs from time to time. Principal Secretary and Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs
presided over many of the VCs. Registrar General of India himself addressed the Collectors,
Municipal Commissioners and District Census Officers in one of them. The cause of census was
also taken up a few times in the monthly ‘samadhan online’ and ‘parakh’ video-conferences of
the Hon’ble Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary of the state.

The districts deputed senior district officials as zonal officers and members of inspecting teams
for monitoring of census operations in the district. Gender MTFs from CSOs observed quality
in gender sensitive districts of the state. Senior officers of the Directorate were deployed in all
the divisions and trained directorate employees were stationed in all the district of the state
for hand-holding the census operations, proper monitoring and supervision.

The districts actively collaborated with CSOs during the course of the operations for quality
coverage of people with disabilities, homeless in urban and rural areas, primitive tribes in
remote and forest areas and the issues of gender and migration. CSOs like ‘Arambh’ and their
sister organisations helped in enumeration of the homeless in municipal corporations of the
state. Similarly other CSOs like those under the banner of state ‘Jan Abhiyan Parishad’ and
many others were involved in the coverage of census enumeration.

                                                        PROVISIONAL POPLUATION TOTALS 23
1.19 USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
     The Directorate designed and implemented online Management Information System (MIS) on
     its website with technical support of the state National Informatics Centre (NIC). The online
     MIS made possible the monitoring of coverage progress of households in all enumeration
     blocks of all the districts in the state twice a week. The periodic monitoring (every 3 days) was
     effected with the help of the Communication Plans and control rooms established at charge
     and district level. Periodic reports generated by the MIS were used for effective monitoring by
     the directorate as well as districts and charges to ensure full and timely coverage.

     DATA CENTRE FOR PROVISIONAL TOTALS
     The online MIS was also used for entry of provisional census data after the completion of
     Revisional Round. A data centre with adequate number of computers and broadband internet
     connections was established at the district level where data of enumerator abstracts of all the
     enumeration blocks were entered online. This helped to complete tabulation of provisional
     census data and generation of census reports within a record time. The online data entry also
     made possible the checking of provisional census figures by an expert team of senior officers
     of the Directorate in real time.

     1.20 CENSUS HELPLINE
     In addition to the National help line, professionally run Call Centre was established at the
     State level (toll free number 1800 210 1011) with support of UNICEF. The call centre was very
     successfully used in clarifying doubts of the field census staff and in answering queries and
     recording complaints of general public. Complaints were recorded on-line and district/ charge
     level census officials ensured their redressal within 24 hours which was also entered on-line.
     Agents at the call centre were properly trained before hand. Moreover, help desks and help-
     lines were also established in charges and districts during the census operations.

     1.21 innovations and NEW EFFORTS
     A large number of innovation and new efforts were initiated by the Directorate in Census
     2011. District and Village/ ward level Census Groups and Census Plans; Communication
     Plans; Census call centre and help line; partnership with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in
     census enumeration, publicity and trainings; GIS maps of administrative units and Bhopal city;
     State Census Brand Ambassadors in IEC activities; Directorate web-site and use of internet
     Social Networking sites like Face book and YouTube; production and use of audio-video
     aids in trainings; Photo Identity Cards and ‘Census Oath’ for census field staff; Field diary for
     supervisors; Online MIS for census management and provisional totals; video-conferences for
     monitoring; SMS for census workers/ officials and SMS with census appeals for mobile phone
     users; inspections by Senior officers of Sate Government and collaboration with State UNICEF
     office were all done for the first time in the census history of the state. These innovations also
     made census operations in the state unique in many ways across the country.

     1.22 Post Enumeration Survey
     The Census Organisation since independence has traditionally been evaluating the results of the
     Population Census through Post Enumeration Surveys (PES). No precise estimate of the extent
     of error in the census count was ever made prior to independence. The objective of the PES is
     to quantify the omission and duplication in the census enumeration, that is coverage error as
     well as to measure the response error in respect of certain selected characteristics canvassed
24
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