What is an Enumeration block?

The region ie; the cities or towns which are to be covered in the survey are divided into

small areas which are called as enumeration blocks. The enumeration blocks are

divided so that no region is uncovered as well as the work is distributed equally.

The ultimate area unit of enumeration is Population Census (2011) Enumeration Block

(EB). An EB broadly covers about 120 households or a population of nearly 600 or so.

EB means a specific area that was allotted to an enumerator for the purpose of carrying

out the Census. In many cases, each village is divided into one or more EBs depending

upon the size of the village in terms of number of households/population of the village.

In some rare cases (particularly in hilly areas) it may also happen that one EB may

contain more than one village. In each case (i.e. depending upon whether the ultimate

area unit is the EB or village), efforts should be made to list all establishments located

within the geographical boundary of the EB (or village in case EB comprises more than

one village).

Care needs to be taken especially to list all the establishments with fixed structures

located outside the households. It is also to be made sure by visiting each household

that no establishment either located within the household or without fixed structure

run by household members is left out, for which necessary probing has to be made in

the household. In case of EB covering more than one village, the schedules should be

canvassed for each village separately. An enumeration block consists of many

establishments.

How to identify an Establishment to know the Enumeration block?

Establishments are to be identified by visiting each and every structure/building/

household and making enquiries. Abridged House List (AHL) and Layout Map (LM) of

an EB will facilitate the process of visiting. In most cases where establishments are run

from buildings like schools, banks, shops, factories etc, their identification and

enumeration is straightforward. Even in such cases, it is necessary to ask from

knowledgeable persons about all activities being carried out from such places to ensure

that all establishments within the building or premises are covered. For example, an

educational institution may also be having a separate canteen run by an outsider which

will form a separate establishment.

(1) Without fixed premises/structure

(A) Inside House:-

Providing tuition, Tailoring, Beedi making

(B) Out Side House:-

(a) Storing of vegetables or other items of trade

(b) Preparing cooked meals/other items, for selling in open markets/streets

Members of a household may carry out activities like providing tuition to members of

other households, tailoring, beedi making etc. within the house premises and

operating from their household premises or even may be engaged in (a) storing of

vegetables or other items of trade and (b) preparing cooked meals/other items, for

selling in open markets/streets. Such cases can be identified only by making detailed

enquiries about the activities of each resident member of the household. All such

activities if they exist will qualify to form establishments. Establishments may be

running in ‘fixed/permanent structures’ or in some cases without having any fixed

structures like the case of a travelling salesman. Establishments with fixed/permanent

structures will be listed at the location/ site and against the respective structures. But

establishments without such fixed/permanent structures will be listed against the

households of the respective owners of the establishments.

All households residing in a house/building/structure will be listed in the Census to

identify establishments associated with the household (HH) which may be either

operated inside the HH premises or from outside without fixed premises/structure.

Care has to be taken to list all the establishments (including the newly started ones)

which are ‘existing’ on the date of field work, although some may not be found working

on the day of fieldwork due to their temporary closure or suspension of business for

the time being due to one or other reason. This may be the case for many seasonal

establishments and even perennial or casual establishment.

The Enumeration Block (EB) is the basic building Block for enumeration. The purpose of

demarcating EB is to ensure coverage of all the areas in a charge without omission or

duplication as also equal distribution of workload to the extent possible.

During the House listing and Housing Census, which was conducted between April to

September 2010, each Charge was divided into House listing Blocks (HLBs). The NPR

Schedule was canvassed in all the normal households found at this phase in each HLB.

Subsequently, at the time of Population Enumeration, i.e., February 2011, EB and sub

blocks were formed for field-work. The HLB with population up to 800 were usually

kept same. Bigger HLBs having population above 800 were sub-divided into two or

more Sub Blocks depending upon the population size of the HLB. In addition, new EB

and sub block numbers were assigned to areas not covered during the 2010 phase. Most

of these areas were called Special Charges, which include restricted areas like Military

and paramilitary areas, jails, etc. The coverage of 2011 is therefore more complete than

the 2010 phase.

Note that the HLB number has four digits starting with 0001 in each Charge. An EB/sub

block number will have 5 digits, 4 digits for the EB and the last digit for the sub-block. If

there is no sub-block of a HLB, the first four digits of the EB number will be same as the

corresponding HLB number.

100-125 households with a population of 650-700 persons would generally constitute

an EB/sub-block. The EBs carved out during the population enumeration phase of

Census 2011 would be used for the Socio Economic and Caste Census also.

State / UT Code State / UT Name No of EBs 00 India 2,473,268 01 Jammu & Kashmir 26,315 02 Himachal Pradesh 25,061 03 Punjab 52,410 04 Chandigarh 2,096 05 Uttarakhand 27,909 06 Haryana 49,347 07 Delhi 33,325 08 Rajasthan 137,733 09 Uttar Pradesh 395,268 10 Bihar 205,832 11 Sikkim 1,612 12 Arunachal Pradesh 7,290 13 Nagaland 4,254 14 Manipur 6,225 15 Mizoram 2,160 16 Tripura 6,814 17 Meghalaya 9,244 18 Assam 64,286 19 West Bengal 178,706 20 Jharkhand 68,649 21 Orissa 96,882 22 Chhattisgarh 49,390 23 Madhya Pradesh 156,745 24 Gujarat 113,412 25 Daman & Diu 475 26 Dadar & Nagar haveli 689 27 Maharashtra 224,531 28 Andhra Pradesh 188,676 29 Karnataka 126,612 30 Goa 3,210 31 Lakshadweep 117 32 Kerala 68,351 33 Tamil Nadu 136,106 34 Puducherry 2,307 35 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 1,229