Bhubaneswar, April 2 – The Odisha government has directed all departments, district administrations, and urban local bodies not to transfer officials and employees involved in census duties to ensure the successful completion of the 2027 Census, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.
Arabinda Padhee, the Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, has written to the secretaries of various departments, heads of departments, district collectors of all districts, municipal commissioners, and chief census officers, issuing directions to ensure the proper discharge of duties related to the 2027 Census.
The Odisha government has undertaken extensive preparations to ensure the smooth conduct of the 2027 Census in the state.
The census process will be carried out in two phases using digital methods. In the first phase, house listing and housing census will be conducted for 30 days from April 16 to May 15, 2026.
Meanwhile, the self-enumeration program will be conducted from April 1 to April 15, 2026. The second phase, population enumeration, will be carried out in February 2027.
"To ensure the successful completion of the census work, the state government has directed all departments, district administrations, and urban local bodies not to transfer officials and employees involved in census duties. Principal Census Officers of all districts and municipal corporations have been instructed to complete the training of census personnel within the stipulated timeline," the state government informed.
Additionally, the master trainers and field trainers involved in census work will not be transferred until the completion of the exercise, until March 2027.
The state government further mandated that any transfer of supervisors and enumerators will require prior approval from the concerned district Principal Census Officer.
The Departmental heads of all the state government departments have been directed to strictly adhere to the transfer control guidelines for field-level census officials to ensure smooth execution of the process.
All officials and employees involved in the census will perform their duties in accordance with the Census Act, 1948, and the Census Rules, 1990.
The state government has appealed for cooperation from all stakeholders to ensure the successful completion of the 2027 Census.
Meanwhile, the second meeting of the State-Level Coordination Committee for the 2027 Census was held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Anu Garg at the Conference Hall of Lok Seva Bhawan here.