Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics as the national statistical agency conducts various types of censuses. The most important censuses are population census, agricultural census and economic census. One of the most important statistical activities in the world is the Economic Census which is being conducted under the Economic Census-2023 project being implemented by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. The first Economic Census of the country was conducted in 1986, followed by the 2nd Economic Census in 2001 and 2003, and the 3rd Economic Census in 2013. In continuation of this, the 4th economic census is currently going to be held on 10-26 December 2024 in the country.
The main objective of economic census is to get an accurate idea about the structural changes that take place in the economy of a country over time. Other objectives of the census are to determine the structure of non-agricultural economic activities; Preparation of updated data of establishments engaged in industrial and service sectors in rural and urban areas following System of National Accounts (SNA), 2008 and Bangladesh Standard Industrial Classification (BSIC), 2020 and National Industrial Policy 2022; Providing basic information about all establishments engaged in economic activities according to classification; To estimate the manpower engaged in economic activities as well as to get an idea about their nature; To get an idea about the basic facilities available in industries or business establishments; classification of industries and business establishments according to invested capital and manpower structure and to determine their number and to provide updated information to various stakeholders including policy makers, planners, researchers of the country for industrial development.
The legal basis of economic census is according to the Allocation of Business, the Department of Statistics and Information Management under the Ministry of Planning conducts the economic census in a certain period of time; According to the Statistics Act, 2013, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) conducts economic census activities; According to the Statistics Act 2013, it is the responsibility and duty of all citizens to provide information to the enumerators employed by the government, and on the other hand, the government is providing assurance to all to protect the privacy of all personal information.
The final activities of the Economic Census 2024, which plays an important role in the economic development and proper planning of Bangladesh, will be completed nationwide from 10-26 December 2024. On this occasion, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) held a press briefing on the official activities of data collection activities at the field level of the main census of Economic Census 2024 at 11.30 am on Monday, December 9, ‘BBS’. Auditorium, Statistics Bhavan Agargaon organized in Dhaka. The press briefing was attended by various levels of officials and employees of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, representatives of public and private institutions, media workers and leading people of civil society.
Joint Secretary (Statistics and Information Management) present at the event. Dipankar Roy said, to ensure the quality of census data, the concerned officers/employees have been trained in 03 steps. Training of Master Trainers (Divisional and District Census Coordinators) in phase 1; In 2nd phase training of Upazila Census Coordinators, Zonal Officers and IT Supervisors and in 3rd phase training of enumerators and supervisors. He said that the actual financial picture of the country will be shown through economic census, which will be helpful in formulating development policies in the future.
The present Additional Secretary (Development), Statistics and Information Management Md. Hamidul Haque said that various activities are being implemented across the country for the correct completion of the main census, now for 15 days from 10-26 December 2024, you should – We will all monitor it so that it succeeds.
SM Shakil Akhtar, Project Director (Additional Secretary), emphasizing on the participation of census technical experts and civil people, said that as a final preparation for the main census, the project team has already been trained in various preparatory activities such as departmental census coordinators and district census coordinators. Arrangements have been made to provide training to upazila/ police station census coordinators and zonal officers at the field level and to train one lakh sixteen thousand six hundred enumerators at the field level and to provide regular monitoring. The project team has undertaken extensive publicity activities to involve all the people of the country in Economic Census 2024. As part of the campaign, TV scrolling messages, TVC (Television Commercial), RDC (Radio Commercial), Animation Film (Character & Infographics based), TV PSA (Public Service Announcement), Theme song, Facebook, You Tube, Online Paper advertisement during census. Publicity, newspaper advertisement campaign and Crorepatra, docudrama, documentaries, talk shows etc. are being regularly promoted in the form of television and radio broadcasts as well as social media and newspaper advertisements. Mass publicity activities are being conducted to encourage public information through rallies, miking, all religious institutions and educational institutions, public representatives, local administration.
Md. Mahbub Hossain, Secretary, Statistics and Information Management Department said, “Digital map has been prepared by coordinating Geographic Information System (GIS) and Geocode for the proper execution of census activities. Tablets used for field data collection will be centrally controlled devices using Mobile Device Management (MDM) software. The rich data-center of Bangladesh Data Center Company Limited (BDCCL) is being used to ensure the storage and security of data collected from the field level. All data collected from the field level through BDCCL to the BBS server will be encrypted; Through which, according to Statistics Act 2013, on the one hand, the enumerators will be assisted in collecting the data, on the other hand, the security of the personal information of the public will be ensured by this law. All census activities and field level data collection activities will be monitored through Integrated Census Management System (ICMS). Above all, the use of modern platforms will facilitate data processing and release census reports in the shortest possible time.
In the said press briefing, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Director General (Additional Secretary), Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics said that through the Economic Census 2024, it will be possible to get accurate and updated information about the economic structure and trends of Bangladesh, which will play an important supporting role in the overall development plan of the country. will do Officials of BBS said they are committed to ensure proper preparation and timely completion of each phase of the census.
Census is a program of national importance. All are specially requested for active participation and cooperation in such important activities.