MINSK, 17 December (BelTA) - The results of the 2019 population census is crucial to rational planning of local budget expenditures, head of the Belarusian National Statistics Committee Inna Medvedeva said in an interview with the ONT TV channel on 16 December, BelTA has learned.
All forecasts (social, economic, demographic and budgeting) rely on the census information. “This information is crucial as to how many schools we will build, where we will have new hospitals or where new transport routes will go through. Census gives answers to all these questions,” Inna Medvedeva noted.
According to her, after the census we will learn about the population numbers and also the demographic, educational and migration characteristics of households. The census questionnaires also have questions about employment, sources of income, additional education. A novel concept of the next census will be questions relating to agricultural activities.
During the main phase of the census, people will be able to choose a way to participate in it. Respondents will be provided with the opportunity to complete the questionnaires on the internet or visit stationary sites at any time convenient for them. “After the internet census, we will update our database. Census takers will come only to those who have not yet taken part in the census,” Inna Medvedeva noted.
The first stage of the population census took place in November 2018. Census takers examined all buildings, both commissioned and those under construction, which house or can house people by the time the population census takes place in October 2019, as well as uninhabited premises used for business purposes.
The head of state instructed to minimize the costs on the population census and hold it at a high level, Inna Medvedeva added. A proposal was made to involve workers of the utility services in the project. “They did a great job. They know their districts very well. This was a big help for us in the preparation for the second stage of the population census,” the chairperson of the National Statistics Committee said.
