Dimapur, January 14 (MExN): The final briefing before the launch of the Socio-Economic Caste Census for the Nodal Officers at SIRD Conference Hall on January 14, 2012 was held under the chairmanship of the Commissioner & Secretary, RD, V. Sakhrie. In his address, he stated that Chief Minister of Nagaland will be first enumerated, he being the first citizen of the state. This was stated in a press note issued by K. Neibou Sekhose, Assistant Director, Rural Development Nagaland.
The note stated that as the state gears up for the comprehensive exercise, Neihu C. Thur, Secretary, Urban Development appealed to all the stakeholders involved, especially the agencies who are providing technical support, to be fully prepared and give the highest level of commitment. Drawing attention to some of the challenges regarding the preparation, he asked them to resolve any issue hindering the implementation so that the SECC can be a grand success.
Director RD, Metsubo Jamir, thanked the Census Director and her staff for going beyond their capacity in helping RD and UD in the preparation of the SECC. Stating that defining poverty or giving a cut off margin for poverty is very difficult for a state like Nagaland, he requested everyone involved to give correct and accurate data since the funding of RD and UD programmes for the next few years will be based on this data. He also advised the Nodal Officers to contact SECC Control Room or Grievance Cell Helplines for any queries.
Hekhali Zhimomi, Director, Census Operations, gave a powerpoint presentation on the status of preparation of SECC and at the same time, requested the UD and RD to take ownership of the SECC project. Stating that the uniqueness of the SECC is it being a paperless exercise where information will be collected through a hand held Tablet PC.
Various issues regarding the preparation and implementation of the SECC were discussed and addressed, some of which were, transportation, power, network coverage for uploading, etc. Concluding remarks were given by Commissioner & Secretary, RD where he shared that Observers were appointed in all districts and concerned Officer in-charge will be visiting their respective districts. He thanked everyone for attending the meeting and wished everyone the best in carrying out the census.
