Srinagar, June 4 -- India's ongoing Census exercise is often described as the backbone of democratic planning. It determines how governments allocate resources, design welfare schemes, plan infrastructure, and understand the social realities of the nation. But while the Census aims to count every citizen, a serious challenge emerges in Jammu & Kashmir, where thousands of Gujjar and Bakarwal families are on the move during the very months enumeration is being conducted.

For these communities, summer is not a season of staying home; it is the season of migration. Every year, as temperatures rise in the plains, Gujjar and Bakarwal families begin their traditional transhumance - the centuries-old seasonal migration from the lower Himalayan r...