The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Census 2011: enumeration to begin tomorrow

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2011
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Census 2011: enumeration to begin tomorrow

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Transgenders have been officially recognised in Census 2011 as a third gender, putting an end to their relentless struggle in search of an identity of their own.

At a media conference here on Monday, Special Chief Secretary and State Coordinator of Census Operations, Prabhakar Thomas said Question No. 4 in the enumeration forms had a provision for transgenders after the categories male/female, indicating that they would be considered in policy and administration.

The forms also mandate the clear segregation of Scheduled Caste and Tribes status, apart from enumerators taking down the caste of people. Unlike in the past, a provision to include date of birth, apart from age and an additional provision for people divorced or separated and thus single, has also been incorporated, he said.

Starting February 9, an estimated 1,43,307 people, primarily government teachers will undertake a door-to-door survey, monitored by 23,460 supervisors, across 23 districts, 1,128 mandals, 27,800 villages, 15 municipal corporations and 110 municipalities. The enumeration will go on till February 28, Mr. Thomas said, adding that villages and towns in the State were formed into 1,87,829 Enumeration Blocks.

Director-Census Operations, A.P., Y.V. Anuradha said enough training had been given to enumerators in handling sensitive cases like that of transgenders and people who were going through the trauma of a separation/divorce too.

“We have clearly told the enumerators not to let social taboos come out when they go on house-to-house survey”, she said.

She said that in order to make a correct assessment of the age, enumerators had been told how they could establish the year of birth when it came to elders, specially those who were illiterate, by eliciting information of major developments in the State and country.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh