Military junta starts pilot census in Maungdaw

 The military council started conducting a pilot census in Maungdaw township, a western Rakhine border town with a majority Muslim population, which is close to Bangladesh.

The census (1 to 15 Oct) is conducted to collect data from residents by the departmental officials and ward administrators. The government and village administrators have joined the mission.

The military junta-owned New Light of Myanmar daily reported on 9 October that the census team is divided into small groups so that accurate data can be collected quickly.

Rakhine State Prime Minister U Htin Lin visited Maungdaw on 8 October to watch the census works. However, many residents have no idea about the census.

 "I came to know that Rakhine Prime Minister visited the construction site of city hall in Maungdaw. But I don't know about the census. I asked the administrator and even he was clueless about it. He claimed that they have not received such notifications, said a young resident.

Similarly, a Aung Bala villager also stated that they have no information about the pilot census in the villages under Maungdaw township.

The pilot census covers 20 townships across Myanmar which was initiated after the military coup.  

The junta is expecting to complete the census by next year so that the electoral papers can be prepared for the next general polls.

Junta chief general Min Aung Hlaing informed about the national elections recently at a meeting held in Naypyidaw.

On 1 October, the military council released the national census report stating that the country had a population of 56.2 million, whereas the Rakhine population was 3.4 million.

Earlier, Myanmar witnessed national censuses 1973, 1983 and 2014, where in 2019 an interim census was also conducted.