West Bengal: CM Suvendu Adhikari says Census 2027 to start on Aug 1 amid 'demographic changes'

After 2011, West Bengal will conduct a population census once again after a gap of 15 years, which is going online for the first time.

The Suvendu Adhikari government announced preparations ahead of the door-to-door census process, which will take place from August 1 till September 1. The entire process will be completed by February 2027.

Adhikari said that the Centre had written to the former state government in 2016, referring to the Trinamool Congress (TMC), but that it did not respond.

“I won’t politicise the issue. It is greatly unfortunate that the then state government did not respond to this letter by the Indian government ... It is a constitutional obligation which is mandatory ... There is no relation to politics, caste or creed,” the CM added.

“It is a bad thing that during Didi’s time, the chief secretary was waiting for political concurrence,” the CM pointed out, citing his government’s example of work beginning immediately after an order issued by the Chief Secretary.

The Census 2027 will be done online and those who do not fill up details virtually will be subject to the door-to-door offline process.

Reiterating the state's 600km border with Bangladesh, which he claimed had changed West Bengal’s demography, he explained the need for a database of people to avail state and central welfare schemes.

“You have seen how people are waiting in line at the Bangladesh border; they are not Indian. For their names to reflect in the census, whatever proof or document is needed, they will not be able to produce that. Hence the census is very important, since the state’s census has already changed,” Adhikari noted.

The CM announced that approximately 30 lakh names would be ineligible for the newly launched Annapurna Bhandar scheme and two crore beneficiaries are likely to get the benefits.

This paves the way for other social welfare schemes, which are a huge load on the state exchequer, as a result of which there was a need to sanitise West Bengal’s population.

2006-batch IAS officer Rashmi Kamal has been appointed the Director of Census.

After the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise before the Assembly Elections this year, citizens in the state will undergo another citizen verification process, and the enumeration forms will be filled individually, with the online option aiming to make things much easier.

Households are likely to get a self-enumeration, with 33 questions to be answered under the census framework. The house-listing operation framework is likely to happen from August 16 to September 14.

“I want everyone’s participation, involvement and support, as it is an important step," the CM declared, appealing to people at large.