Key Points

Senior officers, including Additional Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries of Local Government, Revenue, Rural Development & Panchayats, Planning, Finance and School Education departments, participated, while Deputy Commissioners and Municipal Commissioners joined via video conferencing.

During the meeting, the Additional Chief Secretary of the Local Government Department was nominated as the nodal officer for Census-related activities in the state. Dr. Navjot Khosa, Director Census Operations, Punjab, convened the session and gave a detailed presentation on the Census process, legal framework, preparatory measures, and Census calendar.

Key discussions focused on circulars issued by the Census Directorate, rural-urban classification norms, outgrowth and urban agglomeration concepts, mapping issues, and the upcoming Pre-Test of the Digital Census 2027 in Jalandhar, Amritsar and Malerkotla districts.

Chief Secretary Sinha stressed the need for wholehearted cooperation from Deputy Commissioners and Municipal Commissioners to ensure smooth conduct of operations.

He directed them to finalise jurisdictional frameworks, establish Census Cells at district and corporation levels, and strictly adhere to guidelines issued by the Directorate of Census Operations. Administrative boundaries, he emphasised, must be finalised by December 31, 2025.

Special instructions were also issued to the Deputy Commissioners of Amritsar and Malerkotla, along with the Municipal Commissioner of Jalandhar, to proactively prepare for the upcoming pre-test activities of the Digital Census.

The deliberations highlighted that coordinated efforts and meticulous planning will be crucial for the successful conduct of Census 2027 in Punjab. All stakeholders were urged to prioritise their responsibilities and complete preparatory activities on time.

- ANI