Bathinda: Even as house-to-house mapping under the pre-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists nears completion, Punjab will roll out fieldwork for the drug and socio-economic survey from Tuesday, May 5. Census fieldwork is scheduled to follow from May 15. These three major exercises will run through May and June, necessitating the deployment of tens of thousands of employees — including teachers and anganwadi workers — for door-to-door data collection across the state.
Background of the Exercises
While the SIR and Census-2027 are central government initiatives, the drug and socio-economic survey is a state-specific exercise. It aims to gather updated data on the drug situation and the socio-economic profile of households in Punjab. The survey is designed to help the government shift from a purely enforcement-centric approach to targeted rehabilitation and welfare planning.
Progress of House Mapping
House mapping under pre-SIR has been conducted by booth-level officers (BLOs) to update and verify electoral rolls. Officials stated that nearly 90% of the work has been completed. BLOs are expected to return to the field in June after the first phase of the Census concludes on June 13.
Census and Survey Timeline
Self-enumeration for the Census began on April 30 and will continue till May 14. From May 15 to June 13, enumerators will carry out house-to-house visits to verify details submitted by residents and complete house listing operations. The drug and socio-economic survey begins on May 5. Enumerators and supervisors have been deployed across all polling booths and trained for the exercise. According to the state government, around 28,000 employees have been engaged to cover about 65 lakh families, with the Panchayats and Rural Development Department serving as the nodal agency.
Digital Collection and Confidentiality
Barnala Deputy Commissioner Harpreet Singh said the survey would be conducted digitally through a dedicated mobile app. He assured that the data collected would remain confidential and urged residents to cooperate and provide accurate information during door-to-door visits.
Concerns from Teacher and Anganwadi Unions
Democratic Teachers Front leader Digvijay Pal expressed concern that nearly 70,000 teachers have been deployed across various initiatives, affecting academic work. He added that field staff have undergone training and will be required to visit households for data collection. Similarly, All Punjab Anganwadi Mulazam Union state president Hargobind Kaur noted that anganwadi workers have been assigned duties outside their core responsibilities. Punjab has 27,556 anganwadi workers whose primary mandate under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) includes child care, nutrition for pregnant women, and pre-school education for children aged 3–6.
Government Response
A senior state government official stated that the major exercises were national obligations and that the state was duty-bound to carry them out. Efforts had been made, he added, to minimise the deployment of teachers and other essential staff.
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