The socio-economic caste census began on Monday all over the state except Chennai.
For the city, the two-month exercise will commence on May 1, census commissioner Gopalakrishnan told Deccan Chronicle.
About 30,000 staff will be involved in the drive and pose 32 questions to ascertain the socio-economic condition of the people, he said.
According to sources, the census will also enumerate the number of people living below the poverty line and the data will show up several key indicators related to the state.
Also, district-wise factors can be ascertained. The census commissioner has already written to the collectors and the staff have already been positioned to finish the drive in two months, the sources added.
According to city corporation sources, the drive in Chennai would commence later due to the recent transfer of the corporation commissioner.
The door-to-door survey would continue for about two months and the enumerators will depend on the upgraded maps, revised after the expansion of Chennai corporation from 174 to 426 square kilometres.
The census directorate, ministry of home affairs, urged the public to cooperate with the government staff deployed on census duty and said the exercise can be a success only with public participation.
The ministry, on its website, also explained that census is the only source of primary data at the village-, town- and ward-level across the country and can provide valuable information to the Centre and state governments to plan and formulate policies.
The final compilation of the census will provide information on demography (population characteristics), economic activity, literacy and education, housing and household amenities, urbanisation, fertility and mortality, caste and socio-cultural data.