•Directs all Principal Census Officers to ensure 100% progress & strict monitoring of Houselisting and Housing Operations
•Conduct surprise field inspections to ensure ground-level accuracy, Brar directs field officials
CHANDIGARH, May 25:
Punjab has put its administrative machinery on war footing for the smooth execution of Census 2027: Phase-I – Houselisting and Housing Operations, with 11 districts and seven Municipal Corporations have demonstrated outstanding field mobilisation, reflecting the Punjab Government’s commitment to ensuring the completeness, accuracy and high quality of data collection within the stipulated timelines.
Administrative Secretary Local Government Mr. Manjit Singh Brar, along with Director Census Operations Dr. Navjot Khosa and Director Local Government Mr. Kulwant Singh, held a virtual review meeting with all Principal Census Officers to assess the final stretch of the Phase-I operations.
Highlighting the progress, Mr. Manjit Singh Brar said that a total of eleven districts including Barnala, Moga, Malerkotla, Fazilka, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Tarn Taran, Rupnagar, Mansa and Hoshiarpur—along with seven Municipal Corporations (MCs)—Barnala, Abohar, Moga, Batala, Hoshiarpur, Phagwara and Kapurthala—have shown commendable performance through excellent field mobilisation and monitoring.
Mr. Brar said, “Census operations are of vital national importance and the commendable performance shown by these districts is a result of robust local leadership. However, certain districts lagging behind have been strictly advised to accelerate operations to achieve 100% commencement immediately.”
He stated that the monitoring timeline for completion of 40% to 70% of the census work is fixed for May 30, 2026, and the timeline for 100% completion is set before the second week of June 2026, as the phase wraps up on June 13.
He further shared that since the official period of Census 2027: Phase-I in Punjab runs from May 15, 2026, to June 13, 2026, all Principal Census Officers (Deputy Commissioners and MC Commissioners) must ensure 100% progress of Houselisting Block (HLB) work in their respective jurisdictions.
Mr. Brar directed the field officials that the state government expects absolute precision. All Principal Census Officers have been directed to closely monitor these operations so that Phase-I is completed well within the stipulated timeframe without any compromise on data quality.
Expressing concern for the welfare of the ground staff, Mr. Manjit Singh Brar said that structural targets must go hand-in-hand with field safety. He instructed all Principal Census Officers to aggressively implement heatwave advisories for Enumerators and Supervisors engaged in outdoor fieldwork across their respective districts.
Highlighting the enforcement of data standards, Mr. Manjit Singh Brar said that senior administrative officers have been instructed to conduct regular and surprise field inspections to monitor the fieldwork directly at the grassroots level.
He said, “Surprise inspections are critical to verify the completeness, accuracy and overall quality of data collection. Our field teams are working under challenging weather conditions and proper administrative supervision will ensure both their safety and the reliability of the census data.”
The Administrative Secretary Local Government stated that the local government department is working in absolute tandem with census operations authorities to deliver a flawless, legally compliant and highly accurate housing layout mapping for the state of Punjab.
