Chandigarh, May 17 (IANS) Haryana has recorded significant progress in the ongoing Census 2027 Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO) exercise, with houselisting activities already initiated in the vast majority of areas across the state.

Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi on Sunday held a comprehensive review meeting through video conference with Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, Municipal Commissioners, District Education Officers and other senior officials to assess the pace of implementation and preparedness for the timely completion of the nationwide exercise.

At the meeting, the Chief Secretary directed all officers to accord top priority to the Census exercise and ensure that the work is carried out with full dedication, accountability and efficiency.

He said the Census serves as a vital foundation for policy formulation, development planning, resource allocation and implementation of welfare schemes, making its successful execution extremely important for governance and public administration.

Rastogi said any employee found neglecting or failing to cooperate in their census duty would face strict disciplinary action.

Director of Census Operations, Dr Lalit Jain, informed that work has commenced in more than 97 per cent of the total houselisting blocks (HLBs) across Haryana. Several districts, including Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Fatehabad, Hansi, Charkhi Dadri and Faridabad, have achieved 100 per cent commencement of houselisting activities, demonstrating the efficiency and commitment of district administrations, enumerators and supervisory staff.

Charkhi Dadri emerged as the leading district with more than 32 per cent work completed, while Fatehabad, Hansi, Jind and Mahendragarh also recorded notable progress.

Among Municipal Corporations, Panipat recorded the highest percentage of completed work, followed by Rohtak and Faridabad, indicating steady progress in urban areas as well.

Financial Commissioner Sumita Misra stressed the importance of active cooperation from Municipal Committees, sarpanches, panches and resident welfare associations (RWAs) to ensure smooth and timely completion of the exercise at the grassroots level.

She called for actively involving gram sabhas in the Census process and creating awareness through IEC activities.

To further strengthen implementation, all district administrations were advised to suitably adjust the working hours of employees assigned census duties so that field operations can be completed within the stipulated timeline.

–IANS

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