Centre Appoints Top IAS Officers As Directors Of Census Operations

According to four separate orders issued by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), these appointments were cleared by the competent authority in the Union government, with an aim to strengthen administrative leadership to conduct the census exercise, which is scheduled to begin from April 1 for the first phase of house listings.

The orders indicate that the government is preparing for the census-related administrative exercises. Officers appointed through the latest batch have been directed to join their new assignments within three weeks in accordance with CSS rules, failing which they may face debarment from future central deputation opportunities.

According to the orders, the government has named four officers to serve as Directors of Census Operations (DCO) and Directors of Citizen Registration (DCR) in as many states.

Ranjita, a Bihar cadre IAS officer of the 2013 batch, has been appointed as Director of Census Operations and Director of Citizen Registration for Bihar at the Deputy Secretary level for a period of three years. The posting assumes significance as Bihar remains one of the most demographically significant states in India, making census preparedness and citizen registration highly critical for future national data exercises.

Sanjeev Shrivastava, a 2011-batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as Director of Census Operations and Director of Citizen Registration in his cadre state at the Director level. Given Madhya Pradesh’s geographical size and administrative spread, the appointment is expected to play an important role in managing future census-related field coordination and citizen registration systems.

Ramachandran R, Karnataka cadre IAS officer of 2012-batch, has been appointed as Director of Census Operations and Director of Citizen Registration for his cadre state at the Director level. Karnataka’s growing urban population and digital governance systems make the role strategically important in the upcoming mega population counting exercise.

Vinod Parashuram Kavle, a 2008-batch AGMUT cadre IAS officer, has been assigned additional charge as Director of Census Operations and Director of Citizen Registration for Mizoram. The additional responsibility reflects the Centre’s effort to ensure continuity in census administration even in smaller northeastern states.

The Director of Census Operations/Director of Citizen Registration is a critical position tasked with supervising the planning and execution of the mammoth census exercise in states, as they are going to be responsible for ensuring accuracy and reliability of demographic data collection.

All these appointments under CSS have been made for three years, which mean that they will be overseeing citizen registration processes, including the maintenance of records and coordination with local authorities and supporting national policy formulation by providing reliable statistical inputs.

These officers will play a pivotal role in ensuring that census operations in their positing states are conducted efficiently, transparently and in alignment with national standards.