No paperwork, Census to go digital via mobile application

“State has decided not to antagonise the Centre in NPR and NRC issue. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has directed the officials to simply follow the rules and procedures laid by the Centre in Census enumeration exercise”, said a source, who attended a meeting on Census which was conducted atthe Secretariat.

The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami along with Revenue Minister RB Udayakumar and other officials from Revenue Department. In the meeting, Revenue officials detailed the Chief Minister and the Revenue Ministerabout the processes involved in Census enumeration.

When Udayakumar was asked about the stand of government in NPR and NRC issue, he declined to comment stating that “he has no authority to comment on the issue”.

Census exercise is carried out once in 10 years and the census exercise for 2021 is set to commence in April. The source also said that unlike last Census paperwork will be avoided and census enumeration will be carried out in a mobile application.

The officials participating in the Census exercise will be given training on the mobile application and but the complete information on NPR and NRC has not beenrevealed. “The meeting is only a preliminary meeting and only basic information was shared by the Revenue Officials but however, the State government has decided to comply to the decisions taken on the components which are part of Census exercise”, said the source.

State government, on several occasions, has assured that any adverse step affecting the minorities will not be taken.