The second phase of the census, the actual headcount, begins on Wednesday and this time the procedure will feature a number of firsts including a more ambivalent question on a person?s gender.
The massive exercise this time will provide an option of being listed as ?Other? besides ?Male? and ?Female? to the country?s population, said West Bengal Director of Operations P K Banerjee on Thursday.
The mascot of ?the biggest-ever census attempted in the history of mankind?, a fictional salwar kameez-clad female enumerator, was unveiled at a news conference here, a day after Union Home Minister P Chidambaram showed her off to the media in Delhi.
The first phase of the census, which primarily included house-listing and data for the National Population Register, was completed between April and September last year. The second phase ? population enumeration ? begins on Feb 9 and will go on till Feb 28.
Besides including the gender-sensitive gesture, the 2011 census will for the first time count ?divorced? and ?separated? separately on the idea that divorce is still a twisted procedure for women in rural areas, Banerjee said.
?Also, this time we will be including prostitutes in a separate category from beggars,? he informed.
Questions on disability and education have seen significant rethinking this time and will help paint a better picture of the country?s population, government officials said.
The headcount will attempt to enumerate about 1.2 billion people from 35 states and union territories divided into 2.47 million enumeration blocks with the help of lakhs of population enumerators.
West Bengal alone will see 1.76 lakh enumerators going door-to-door asking the 29 questions on demographics, marital status, culture literacy, economic and migration, among others.
The Indian census will also see the process being much more streamlined this time with the completion time coming down to one-two years from four-five years and a omission rate of only 1.7 percent.
The Rs 2,200 crore-exercise is also being pitched as the most cost-effective with the government spending about Rs 18.33 per person.
The government will also be spending Rs 37.5 crores in publicising the process and top celebs including cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and actor Priyanka Chopra have been roped in.
?Our campaign will include all kinds of media and we are also there on Twitter and Facebook,? said Banerjee.