Daltonganj: Jharkhand has recorded 77.99% coverage of 41,711 households in the first seven days of its 15-day self-enumeration (SE) drive for Census of India 2027, officials said. The exercise began on May 1 and will continue till May 15. From May 16, enumerators will begin visiting households for house listing and house census, a process scheduled to continue till June 14 this year.In Daltonganj, Palamu district census officer Kundan Kumar, who is also the additional collector, described the statewide trend as encouraging and singled out one district for its performance. He said, “The statewide data shows Latehar district leading among the 24 districts in the state.”Latehar emerged as the frontrunner with 85.98% self-enumeration in the first seven days of May. Its neighbouring districts also posted notable figures. Garhwa reached 78.76%, while Palamu recorded 70.44% during the same period, Kumar said quoting statewide data.Among other districts, Bokaro achieved 75.88% coverage , while West Singhbhum touched 79.63% in this seven-day phase. Sahebganj, however, lagged behind and is struggling with coverage of 71.48%.Officials underlined that self-enumeration remains a voluntary exercise and is not mandated under the Census Rules. They also clarified that even households that have already completed self-enumeration will still receive a visit from an enumerator. During that visit, the enumerator will assess the self-enumeration without asking for any document or paper.Residents have also been reminded that nothing is to be given, such as Aadhaar Card, PAN and bank account details. There is no issue of OTP.The statewide data for the first seven days further showed that 9,181 households in Jharkhand initiated the digital self-enumeration process but left it midway.In Palamu, awareness efforts have been intensified under orders of deputy commisioner Dilip Pratap Singh Shekhawat. Govt and private schools are holding census awareness drives among students to make Census a household name.Officials noted that the younger generation is mostly unaware of Census. They know Matdata Suchi well, but not census.
