Noida: District magistrate Medha Roopam on Monday reprimanded officials over the sluggish pace of Census 2027 work, expressing displeasure at the absence of additional chief executive officers from the district’s three development authorities during a review meeting. She warned that a formal communication would be sent to the chief secretary.Official data shows census house-listing work has commenced in only 7% of the district’s 5,923 blocks. Neighbouring Ghaziabad, by contrast, has started work in over 60% of its 7,886 blocks — underscoring the wide gap in administrative readiness. The door-to-door house-listing census began in Noida and Ghaziabad on May 22 and will continue till June 20. According to the district administration’s estimate, there are 8.7 lakh houses in GB Nagar and 11.77 lakh in Ghaziabad, which need to be covered in the exercise.Calling the Census a task of “national importance”, the DM instructed the officers-in-charge to conduct daily reviews of each block and monitor enumerators and supervisors engaged in fieldwork, said officials present at the meeting. “The pace of work is unsatisfactory and needs immediate improvement. These operations cannot be treated casually. Every officer concerned must ensure that the work progresses in a time-bound and systematic manner,” said Roopam.The administration also reviewed the Census work being carried out in areas under the Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities. The DM expressed strong displeasure over the absence of additional chief executive officers of the three authorities. She directed officials to show visible improvement within 24 hours.Officials said the district administration has been facing challenges in mobilising adequate field-level manpower and ensuring consistent monitoring of enumerators across urban sectors and rapidly developing areas.Speaking to TOI, DM said the slow progress of work has been due to negligence of the three authorities and on Monday, she has also written to the three authority CEOs regarding the same.In an official communication issued on May 25, DM expressed concerns regarding the slow progress and lack of seriousness shown by officials of the three authorities in the first phase of Census 2027. According to the letter, Greater Noida Authority has a total of 2,313 house listing blocks (HLBs), but data has been uploaded by enumerators in only 77 blocks so far, while work has not even started in the remaining 2,236 HLBs. Similarly, in Noida Authority, out of 2,281 HLBs, data upload has begun in only two blocks and only two HLBs have been completed. Work in the remaining 2,277 HLBs is yet to begin.In the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority area, there are 543 HLBs. Enumerators have uploaded data in only 57 blocks and completed four HLBs, while work has not started in the remaining 482 blocks.“The figures clearly indicate that the authorities are not taking the census work seriously, which is adversely affecting the image of the government and administration,” Roopam stated in the letter. “If the expected progress is not achieved, action should be initiated to stop the salaries of the nominated officers concerned.”In sharp contrast, neighbouring Ghaziabad has already commenced Census work in 4,889 of its total 7,886 HLBs, achieving nearly 62% coverage, according to official data.Ghaziabad officials said the district administration has intensified monitoring and field verification to maintain momentum in Census operations.Ghaziabad’s district Census officer and additional district magistrate (finance and revenue) Anjani Singh said door-to-door data collection and verification activities are being carried out across municipal bodies and urban areas. “According to the progress reports, the work has witnessed a surge in pace across different parts of the district, with numerous teams actively engaged in fieldwork,” Singh said.He added that supervisors and enumerators have been instructed to carry out Census duties beyond regular office hours to avoid disruption in routine govt functioning. “No leave or exemption from attending office during regular hours will be granted for this work. Heads of offices have also been asked to cooperate by facilitating personnel rotation and granting brief relief from office duties to ensure completion of this nationally important exercise,” he said.
