Kolkata, Sept. 16 -- West Bengal raced against the clock to complete the first phase of Census 2026 fieldwork before the September 14 deadline, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Wednesday.

Taking to X, Adhikari said the state had completed the fieldwork ahead of schedule, with the administration claiming 100 per cent coverage of all houselisting blocks (HLBs). "West Bengal has completed the fieldwork for the first phase of Census 2026 within the September 14 deadline, with the state administration claiming 100% coverage of all houselisting blocks (HLBs)," the Adhikari said.

All 1,73,066 HLBs spread across districts have been covered in the first phase of the exercise. The Chief Minister described the achievement as a major operational milestone, given the scale and geographical spread of the state.

More than 3.68 crore census houses - 3,68,30,150 in all - were enumerated against a projected 3.69 crore, translating into nearly 99.7% coverage of the expected houses.

The exercise involved thousands of enumerators and supervisors working across urban centres as well as difficult-to-reach areas, including the hills, plains and riverine belts. District administrations, including district magistrates, SDOs, BDOs, municipal commissioners and other officials, were responsible for coordinating the field operation.

The state administration credited the completion to detailed planning, coordination and sustained field-level efforts. It also thanked residents for cooperating with enumerators and providing access to their homes.

The first phase of the Census focuses on houselisting and housing-related information, forming the groundwork for the subsequent population enumeration. The near-complete coverage in Bengal comes as the census exercise involves one of the country's largest administrative data-collection operations.

The state is now expected to consolidate and process the data collected during the field exercise as the Census process moves towards its next stage, officials said.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.