Copyright thehindu
It has been decided to hold the ‘pre-test’ for Census 2027 in Kerala in sample areas in Ernakulam, Idukki, and Palakkad districts in November. The State government has issued orders appointing the Collectors of the three districts as ‘Principal Census Officers’ for this trial run ahead of the actual exercise in 2027. As in other parts of the country, the trial run in Kerala also will be held from November 10 to November 30. The upcoming ‘pre-test’ will focus only on the first part of the Census exercise, that is, House Listing and Housing According to a senior official at the Directorate of Census Operations (Kerala), in Idukki and Palakkad districts, the sample areas will be one village each. In Ernakulam district, a few wards in the Kochi Corporation have been picked as sample areas. Self-enumeration The nationwide schedule for the Census phase one pre-test was announced through an October 16 notification issued by Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Government of India. The notification had also stated that there would be an option for self-enumeration from November 1 to November 7 as part of this exercise. For the pre-test, the Collectors of the three districts have been directed to appoint charge officers who in turn will appoint the enumerators, an October 22 order issued by K. Biju, Secretary, General Administration department, said. In June this year, the Union government had announced plans to conduct the Population Census-2027 in two phases along with the enumeration of castes. The previous Census was held in 2011 in two phases. Phase 1 — which lasted from April 1, 2010, to September 30, 2010, — covered House Listing. Population enumeration was conducted in the second phase from February 9 to February 28, 2011. After 2011, the decennial exercise should have been held in 2021, but it was delayed. Census 2011 had placed Kerala’s population at a little over 3.34 crore, with 1.73 crore females and 1.60 crore males. Kerala’s rural population stood at a little over 1.74 crore (52.3%), and the urban population, a little over 1.59 crore (47.7%).
