Jammu, Nov 14 (KNO): In recognition of Jammu and Kashmir’s Census preparedness and experience in conducting digital operations across difficult terrains, IAS officer Amit Sharma has been selected to lead an Indian delegation to Trinidad and Tobago for a UNFPA-coordinated technical assistance mission on Census preparedness in the last week of November.
In a statement issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), it was informed that Sharma, Chief Principal Census Officer (CPCO) and Director Census Operations/Director Citizen Registration, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, has been nominated by the Government of India as a subject expert to lead the mission ahead of the Caribbean nation's Census scheduled for March-April 2027.
The delegation will visit Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, where the country's Central Statistics Office (CSO), with UNFPA's support, will organise technical sessions, discussions, field visits and interactions.
The Indian delegation will include Sharma and D. Helen Premakumari, Deputy Director General, Directorate of Census Operations, Karnataka, representing the Ministry of Home Affairs' Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI), along with four officers from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
The delegation will share India's Census experience and best practices, particularly the first paperless Census being conducted in the country, and explore ways to replicate the digital model in Trinidad and Tobago.
The statement highlighted that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh's experience in conducting digital Census operations across snowbound areas, hilly and inaccessible terrains, besides covering transhumance populations, has received recognition from the Government of India. Sharma has been leading the ongoing Census 2027 preparations in these challenging conditions.
It further stated that officials from Trinidad and Tobago had earlier visited India to study the country's Census and survey model, while the upcoming Indian delegation's visit is part of the reciprocal technical assistance initiative.
Sharma expressed gratitude to the Government of India, particularly Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, for selecting him to lead the important UNFPA mission.
He expressed confidence that the Indian delegation, equipped with relevant facts and figures, would facilitate meaningful interactions with officials of Trinidad and Tobago and help strengthen preparations for the Caribbean nation’s 2027 Census—(KNO)