TV actors to be brand ambassadors for Census 2011 in Gujarat

Ahmedabad, Feb 4 (PTI) The population enumerationphase of the 2011 Census would begin in Gujarat from February9 and continue till February 28, Director, Census Operationfor the state, Manish Bharadwaj said here today.

He said that to create awareness about the exercise,the government has roped in the actors of popular televisionserial "Tarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chasma" as brand ambassadors forthe Census in Gujarat.

"This will be the second -- Population Enumeration --phase of Census which is to be carried out simultaneouslyacross the country. The first phase was held inApril-September 2010, for house-listing and housing census,"Bharadwaj told reporters.

The data collected during the first phase would thenbe combined with the population data and then the finalfigures would be declared, he said.

Bharadwaj said that advanced technology is being usedto ensure faster compilation and analysis.

"The data compilation and analysis that took 4-5 yearsduring the 2001 census would be completed within 1-2 yearsusing this new technology. Also, after the collection of datais over, we would be able to provide provisional Censusfigures by end of March 2011," he said.

Talking about the new information sought in thisCensus (as against the last one), Bharadwaj said that from2011, people of other sex'' besides male and female would berecorded distinctly. .