Dehradun, Aug. 18 -- Self-enumeration operations under the Census 2027 exercise began in the state's snow-bound areas on Monday. Officials said people may submit relevant details online until August 31. According to the state Directorate of Census Operations, door-to-door enumeration will be conducted from September 1 to 30, with a revisional round from October 1 to 5. Census operations director Eva Srivastava said the exercise was planned to ensure residents of snow-bound areas could access enumeration facilities. "Compared to other hill states, Uttarakhand has a relatively small snow-bound area. We have to cover 131 villages and three towns," she said. The exercise will cover 69 villages in Uttarkashi, 23 in Chamoli, four in Rudraprayag and 35 in Pithoragarh.The three towns included are Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath. The exercise will be conducted digitally through the Population Enumeration (PE) app. Enumerators will visit households and enter information directly into the app. Residents who opt for self-enumeration will also have their information verified by an enumerator during a subsequent house visit. The PE questionnaire has 40 questions notified by the Centre, covering details including religion, caste, mother tongue and other languages known, disability, attendance at educational institutions, reasons for migration, Voter ID and Aadhaar details, if available, and place of Covid vaccination. "We have completed the training of master and field trainers. Training for charge officers is underway, followed by training for enumerators and supervisors," Srivastava said, adding that the training covered multiple stages and trained officials subsequently trained enumerators and supervisors. Around 162 enumerators and 34 supervisors are expected to be deployed, she said. Officials said personnel in military and paramilitary units stationed in snow-bound areas will be enumerated simultaneously. Nodal officers are being appointed at the state level, while special charge officers will be notified by the respective units. Enumerators and supervisors will subsequently be appointed for the exercise. "Due to security reasons, the enumeration of military and paramilitary units will be carried out in paper mode. The data will subsequently be entered digitally at the offices of the special charge officers," Srivastava said. The census authorities do not expect major difficulties in conducting the exercise, although disaster-related incidents could pose a challenge as the monsoon is still underway. "We do not anticipate any major challenges, except those related to disasters as the monsoon is still underway. The population is small and we have a month to complete the exercise, so there should not be any major difficulties," said Srivastava. The census directorate will coordinate with district administrations for the smooth conduct of the exercise. District magistrates have also been trained, as their support will be required during the enumeration, she added....