Publicity Efforts in Census 2011

Publicity for various aspects of Census 2011 was required to:-

• Inform the public about the huge operation being carried out, the need for such a
Census taking, its statutory nature and the applications of Census data.
• Sensitize the people to make them respond positively and to overcome apathy.
Make them aware of their duty to cooperate and also to address their concerns
about privacy and use of data given by them.
• Inform the people about the National Population Register (NPR) and how they
could benefit by getting enrolled – the identification and authentication facility.

Towards this objective, strategies adopted were two fold – one at the national level
coordinated by the Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI) and the other at state
and local levels coordinated by the respective Directorates of Census Operations (DCO).

The National Strategy broadly focused on the effective use of three types of media
namely – Television Channels, Print Media and Radio. A specialist agency was engaged
to study and report on how each of the media would be used at various locations across
the country depending on the local conditions such as penetration of the media, local
levels of literacy, lifestyles etc. Accordingly the budget was spread across various types
of media.

A Core theme advertisement “Ek, Do, Teen, Char…..Census aur NPR” was brought out
in Hindi. There were also shorter spots with the same sounding jingle but focusing on a
specific issue such as ensuring the coverage of vulnerable sections of the population
such as women, infants and disabled. The spot ended with a request to the general
public to ensure that their house was also included in the House listing operations of
Census 2011 to be held between April to September 2010 and to also get themselves
enrolled in the NPR and to ensure their identity.

The radio spot was based on the audio content of the above advertisement but for a
shorter duration. The focus was more on the appeal at the end of the advertisement.
The TV ad was maintained as a uniform format all over the country. The lyrics were
however translated into the local languages and recorded. The DCOs were involved in
order to ensure that the translated versions conveyed the right message without any
distortion.

The print advertisement had a quote from the Hon’ble Home Minister that this Census
and NPR operation was the largest exercise to be ever carried out by mankind. The
details of helpline telephone numbers, website addresses, e-mail addresses and contact
particulars were also given at the bottom of the advertisement. The translated versions
of these advertisements were used for display in the regional language newspapers.

The timing of the release of all the above was ensured that they are relevant to the state
or area which is being focused, since the operations covering 45 days were spread out
over the period April to September 2010. For about a week before and after the
scheduled start of operations, there was wide publicity to raise awareness levels.
Thereafter, the advertisements picked up again towards the last fortnight of operations to
ensure that people are not left out.

In addition to the paid for advertisements in various types of media reported above, other
strategies were also adopted to ensure that Census developments were covered by the
media and continued to occupy mindshare. A prime event for this was the coverage of
the enumeration of VIPs. Census Enumeration of the President, PM, Governor, CM,
Mayor etc were all very important events for the National and local media and these
were covered by all the media agencies. Invariably all key officials such as the RGI,
DCOs and top level state and local officials were involved in such VIP enumerations.
Besides, VIPs were being enumerated at different places at different times depending on
the place where they were resident. This helped to ensure continuous coverage of
Census activities and helped to raise awareness. Invariably, the media also sought news
bytes wherein the dignitaries and officials sought to inform the public about Census /
NPR operations and also exhorted the public to cooperate in the operations.

The above efforts were very effective in targeting such of those people who saw TV,
listened to radio or read newspapers. But reaching out to a much larger audience who
did not effectively or regularly use the above said media channels, was left to the efforts
taken at a much more local level by the DCOs and the local administration.
Since teachers were largely involved in the census activities and that most of them had
past experience, schools were felt to be ideal places to take the message across to the
younger generation. Through the school children, it was felt that the message can be
conveyed to the elders such as parents etc. An Appeal was made out in the local
language and printed on A3 size chart. It was distributed for display at the high schools
through the education department and sought to inform the students about the Census
and what sort of information was to be collected. In some states, a message was sent
out that was read out in the school assembly.

In order to arouse the curiosity of the general public, in some places the field staff such
as enumerators and supervisors were provided with uniforms. For example, in Andaman
& Nicobar Islands, all field staff wore T-shirts that prominently displayed the Census logo
and also the dates for the Census operations. All of them also wore Caps that had the
logo displayed at the front. During the coverage of enumeration of VIPs, such caps and
T-shirts ensured better visibility and publicity for Census.

It is to be noted that a new Census logo was designed for Census 2011. It is more
generic and is adaptable for future use by simply replacing the year. Lot of effort was
taken to ensure that this logo reached the public attention. In almost all items that were
used in various meetings and training sessions, the logo was prominently displayed.
Census mugs with the logo were distributed. Coat buttons & Badges with the Census
logo were made and distributed to various officials. The logo was made prominent on all
stationary items such as Pens, Folders, Writing Pads, bags, Glass cutlery etc. A one
year Census desk calendar was brought out with the dates of operations being indicated
prominently. A Census Planner covering the same period was brought out and
distributed to key personnel such as charge officers etc. It contained a lot of output data
which was felt would sensitize the field personnel to the utility of their efforts and how
their census work would help in bringing out results that would help us understand
ourselves better.
Funds for publicity were also provided to local administrative offices such as the Tehsil
and Municipal offices. A prominent mode of publicity adopted was the erection of
banners that were then placed in prominent places such as bus stands, panchayat
offices, traffic intersections etc. In these banners, the Census logo was prominently
displayed. These sought to inform the people mainly about the various questions that
would be asked by the enumerator and also sought to inform the people that the privacy
of their data was statutorily guaranteed and that they should proactively participate in
this national exercise. Since these banners were present for a long time, they were very
effective in arousing the curiosity of all passers by and were useful in informing the
public about the Census operations.

Another medium used for publicity was to announce over mike sets kept in auto
rickshaws. Such announcements were however seen to be used in mostly urban areas.

A very effective mode of publicity was through the local cable network. Almost all across
the country, during the period of operations, a message would be found scrolling at the
bottom of the screen informing the people about the window of dates for Census & NPR
Operations and asking them to provide all details sought by the enumerator. In some
states the Cable Network also replayed the TV ad format that was centrally made and
dubbed into the local languages. In TN a separate series of five short campaign films
lasting about 1 to 2 minutes each was made out in which top film stars were involved. To
their credit all of them pitched in free of any cost and the expenses were met only
towards filming and making DVD copies. These short appeals were sent to all private TV
channels, radio stations and also all districts for distribution to cable TV operators. Since
top notch celebrities were appearing, almost all of them took to showing these films on a
very regular basis free of cost. Interestingly, even a couple of private TV channels
played these films often at peak viewing time for a very long period without any charges
at all. These celebrity appeals in the local language ensured fantastic publicity for the
census cause and were found to be most effective.

A census song was written and recorded with catchy music. This song was played
before, during and after most training sessions. This ensured instant recall and the song
was associated with Census programmes.
In order to involve various other stakeholders, other direct targeting efforts were also
done. For example, an appeal was printed out and sent to all the panchayat presidents
in the state explaining to them the census operations and how they could end up being
affected if the operations were not carried out perfectly. This ensured that they also
pitched in and exerted pressure on the enumerators to ensure that no area was left out
inadvertently.

During the operational period all media vehicles were keen to host talk shows with
census officials. The RGI participated in a half hour talk show over Doordarshan. The
DCOs were frequently seen on local TV channels briefing the public. In addition, the
ease of recording ensured that the DCO officials could easily be heard on FM radio
shows regularly. Most such sound bytes were recorded over the phone and at very
convenient timings. Thus the message was directly conveyed over private FM channels
that were airing based out of far away places. In most such case, phone in programmes
also helped to directly address the concerns of the questioning participants. The learning
has been that if the officials are ready to talk, then recording and airing on FM channels
is very easy, convenient and effective. However, this medium was useful only in urban
areas that had a host of private FM channel networks in operation.

Broadcasting of bulk SMS messages also helped to take the message across to people
who used cell phones. Almost all the cell phone network operators agreed to broadcast
census & NPR messages free of any cost, twice during the operational period asking the
people to participate actively and provide the information sought. These public service
free messages helped reach a large audience across the country.

E-mails, blogs and social media over the Internet were not used explicitly for publicity
efforts. But the websites of the ORGI and DCOs were loaded with a lot of information
that were found very useful by people accessing those sites. The copies of the
schedules for canvassing information were posted. People could clearly see what
information was to be collected. Details of charge offices, contact particulars of field
functionaries were also posted so that people could contact the right officials. Specific
requests were entertained over e-mail and forwarded to field officials for further action.