Save your citizenship through Census 2011

Census 2011 has already begun from April 1, 2010 nationwide. This census is different from ones in the past and very exclusive in style. While addressing a press conference at Marathi Patrakar Sang (Mumbai Press Club) on April 15, the leaders of the Federation of Minorities NGOs (FMN) – Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi, Dr. Azimuddin, Maulana Burhanuddin Qasmi, Mr. Salim Alware, Dr. SK Abdullah and Mr. Iqbal Memon, have urged all NGO activists, especially those from Muslim NGOs to fully volunteer their skill and time to the ongoing census 2011 in India.

The leaders have requested all members of the community to note the followings and take part in the census process. They said that an enrolment in the census enables an individual to be ‘the citizens’ of the country. The census 2011 will help decide numbers of BPL people in 2013. Moreover, this census is collecting photos of above 15 age-group along with Biometric Identity, and the databank collected by the census will be used by the Unified Identity Authority of India (UIDAI).  If anyone fails to get into the data-bank he will be out of UIDAI, which is an indirect proof of ‘Citizenship’ for every individual. Furthermore, all the future Planning and Budget allocations for particular communities or castes will be based on this databank

The FMN launched a state-wide awareness campaign in Maharashtra from April 15 itself through its 100 plus member NGOs to educate common people to ensure their complete and correct entries during the census, the leaders said in the press conference. Maulana Burhanuddin Qasmi said the Census Authority of India should train its enumerators through effective workshops to minimise common mistakes like wrong spellings of Muslim names and filling in wrong religion, language or caste, etc.

The Federation of Muslim NGOs believes that for effective planning precise information about religious, social and economic condition is essential. Our nation can effectively plan political, educational, social and economic development on the basis of correct information. Therefore, social activists must ensure detail entries of the data correctly.