Census officials to knock on the doors of Mumbaikars ……..Nithin Belle
MUMBAI — An army of enumerators will be out on the streets of Mumbai from Saturday, counting the number of residents in one of India’s largest metropolises.
As Census 2010 begins on May 1, the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be deploying thousands of enumerators who will knock on the doors of apartments and flats in posh residential colonies and middle-class housing societies, and even in rickety hovels in sprawling slum townships across the city and suburbs.
Senior officials of the BMC have appealed to residents to plan their summer vacations in such a way that they are in the city when the enumerators call on them. The door-to-door compilation of data begins on May 1 and goes on till June 15.
Millions of Mumbai residents head for their ‘native’ places, hill-stations, beach resorts and other holiday destinations (with many travelling abroad) during the summer vacations that have already started.
“We appeal to residents to first complete all the formalities relating to the census before taking their annual summer holidays,” says Swadhin Kshatriya, the city’s municipal commissioner. But it is an appeal that is unlikely to be heeded, as most residents plan their holidays weeks in advance.
Virtually all trains heading out of Mumbai are packed these days with holiday-makers. Indian Railways open bookings three months in advance, and most of the trains are fully booked within days. Similarly, flights out of the city are also full and it is difficult to get discounted air tickets.
Flights to places such as Delhi, Bangalore and Goa are being sold at full rates even by low-cost carriers, indicating the rush of travellers. Tickets to Delhi and Bangalore, which are usually available for around Rs3,500 (about Dh285) are being sold at between Rs5,000 and Rs6,000 (between Dh400 and Dh500).
Kshatriya says it is important for residents to provide details to the enumerators as it will help them acquire the unique identity (UID) cards. These cards will be useful for the poor who are entitled for benefits under various government schemes. By not being present at the time of enumeration, they may miss out on the opportunity of getting the cards, says the municipal commissioner.
The BMC is also facing another major problem, with several teachers’ organisations opposing the enrollment of school and college teachers as enumerators.
Kapil Patil, a member of the state legislative council — who got elected from the teachers’ constituency — points out that teachers are over-burdened with work related to exams and do not have time to spare for enumeration. Teachers also have to correct papers and will not be able to do house-to-house enumeration, adds Patil.
The Bombay University and College Teachers’ Union (BUCTU) has also questioned the move by the Maharashtra government and the BMC to make it compulsory for teachers to take up census duty. The union says teachers have never been assigned census duty in the past. — nithin@khaleejtimes.com