Nagpur: Gadchiroli, once a stronghold of Maoist insurgency and one of Maharashtra's most forested and geographically isolated districts, has emerged as the state's frontrunner in the Census 2027 house-listing drive, achieving 99.5% entries against the state average of 86.83%, district administration officials said on Wednesday.
Only 14 house-listing blocks, or 0.54% of the work, remain pending even as the first phase is yet to conclude. In contrast, the highest pending rates in Maharashtra are in Brihanmumbai (43.08%), Pune Municipal Corporation (38.24%), Nandurbar (37.01%), Latur (35.74%), and Thane (28.05%), according to data shared by the Gadchiroli district administration.
Enumerators fanned out across the remote district, reaching distant areas once part of the Red Corridor where even two-wheelers struggle to navigate. Many enumerators, most of whom are teachers, reported leaving their bikes behind and trekking to isolated villages on hills.
For Gadchiroli, completing the entire exercise before the onset of monsoon is crucial. The lone bridge connecting Bhamragarh taluka to the mainland gets submerged during rains, leaving villages marooned for weeks. This urgency prompted the district administration to push for early completion of the census process.
Gadchiroli District Collector Avishyant Panda appealed to citizens to cooperate with enumerators in the final stretch of the first-phase exercise, which runs until June 14. Panda stated, "Census is the foundation of the nation's development. Every citizen must cooperate and provide accurate information. Any evasion amounts to obstructing the fulfilment of a national duty, drawing penal action."
Panda emphasized that the house-listing exercise is being conducted under the Census Act, 1948, which makes it mandatory for every citizen to furnish data. The information is kept confidential and used for statistical, administrative, and development planning, he added.
