Count me in PM enumerated for Census 2011

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was today enumerated for Census 2011 and said the data from this massive exercise would be a ‘treasure house’ of information to help government plan its development work.

Census officials visited the Race Course residence of the 77-year-old prime minister this morning and collected particulars of him and his wife Gursharan Kaur. Official sources said Singh was enthusiastic about giving information during the exercise that lasted about 15 minutes.

Minister of state in the prime minister’s office Prithviraj Chauhan, Union Home Secretary G K Pillai and Census Commissioner C Chandramouli were also present.

Singh asked each and every citizen to participate in the national endeavour and ensure that they were enumerated properly. “This enumeration will constitute a treasure house of information for planning our development work,” he said.

He added the Census of India was the most massive operation for compiling statistics anywhere in the world. “Some of this data forms an important base for planning the level of our economic and social activities and it constitutes an important input in the processes of planning and development,” the prime minister noted.

The biggest Census exercise ever to be attempted in human history will cover India’s 1.2-billion population.