Census duty in full swing after polls

After much delay, the third phase of the caste-based census kicked off in Navi Mumbai in the first week of February. The work was supposed to begin in October 2011, but due to various reasons like unavailability of equipment and data operators, it was postponed.
Deputy Municipal Commissioner Suresh Patil informs, “At present, the census work has begun in Nerul and Koparkhairane nodes and is being conducted at a slow pace due to civic elections in Mumbai. Once it gets over, the work will begin in all the other nodes of the city.”
The government had provided 700 tablet PCs for the census, out of which 154 are faulty and cannot be used. “Currently we are using 150 of them, as we have only 150 data operators, who are from Bharat Electronic Ltd. We are falling short of operators and have informed the company but we haven’t received any response yet,” adds Patil.
An enumerator (teacher) says, “We are not well informed about the changes. For now, we are told that the last phase would be conducted within 45 days, which I don’t think is possible. In addition, SSC exams will begin in March, which will be followed by secondary school exams. I hope our students don’t suffer in this chaos.”
Koparkhairane ward officer Sanjay Tayde informs, “The work has started in 50 blocks in Koparkhairane. As many people (enumerators) are involved in the election duty, the overall work will be in full swing only after elections. So far 60% of work has commenced in Koparkhairane.
“We were given instructions about completing the work in 45 days in November but after the work began, we have not been given any instructions,” Tayde adds.

--Indira Thakur