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J&K's first census in 20 years begins

The government has started work on the first census in two decades in Jammu and Kashmir, with more than 22,000 officials involved in the task, a spokesman said on Thursday.

The census, which is being completed in two phases, began on Tuesday with the first stage due to end on June 5, he said. The last census in the troubled state was conducted in 1981.

Eight years later, a Muslim separatist drive erupted and no further population counts were held.

Since 1989 more than 25,000 people have died in Kashmir in violence linked to the separatist campaign. The 1981 census had put the population of Kashmir state at 5.9 million, a figure officials believe must now have passed 10 million.

India this month officially declared a population of one billion people, although UN estimates said the mark had been breached last year. A new census is being conducted nationwide and will continue until early next year.

"The census is aimed at ascertaining the actual population of Kashmir," said Feroze Ahmed, the director of Kashmir's Census Department.

The second phase of the census will start on September 11 and go on till October 1, Ahmed said. The census in the remote northern districts of Kargil and Leh will be taken in September.

"The planning for any developmental work is based on the census," Ahmad said. "We ascertain the efficacy of all such schemes which have been implemented and it is based on these findings that further planning and developmental schemes are chalked out."

In 1991, when the Kashmir government was planning to hold a population count, Muslim separatist militants warned state employees of dire consequences if they got involved in the process. The state government dropped its plans. However, this time round there have been no threats.

"I and my team have been carrying out census work for the past two days," said census official Inayatullah Bhat, "and so far we have had no problems."

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