A major crisis has hit the national census in Balangir district, where deserted villages are making data collection nearly impossible. Despite the deployment of 4,833 enumerators and observers, the ground reality is a stark portrait of rural flight.
In blocks like Muribahal, villages such as Patnapali and Laripada are eerily silent. With over 2 lakh residents migrating out of the state in search of livelihood, enumerators are greeted only by locked doors.
The few elderly residents left behind are often unable to provide the comprehensive details required for the 33-point questionnaire covering essential metrics like education, sanitation, and water.
The Administrative Hurdle:
Incomplete Data: Officials are forced to rely on neighbor hearsay or mark homes as "closed."
Poverty Impact: Distressed migration is skewing vital statistics on living standards.
This "ghost village" phenomenon raises a critical question: How accurate can a census be when the very people it seeks to count are driven away by poverty? The administration now faces the uphill task of documenting a population that exists only on paper.