Rosstat proposed to postpone the all-Russian census in order to “give people a rest” after the September elections

The main stage of the All-Russian Population Census (VPN) is proposed to be postponed to the period from October 15 to November 14 (before that it was planned from October 1 to 31). The new terms are spelled out in the draft government decree prepared by the Ministry of Economic Development and published on the portal of draft regulatory legal acts. The officials explain the postponement of the census, in particular, by the desire to give people a “rest” after the elections in September, since in both cases the same administrative resource will be used.

In Rosstat “Interfax” confirmedthat “within the framework of a working discussion with the leadership of the regions, it was decided to conduct the main stage of the All-Russian Population Census from October 15 to November 14 at stationary sites and from October 15 to November 8 at the portal“ Gosuslugi ”. The service added that “as the analysis of the readiness of the infrastructure and personnel of the regions for the census has shown, the resources involved in organizing a single voting day will be used to organize it”, which will be held on September 19.

“These are two important (census and voting) projects for the country and each of us. But each of them has its own characteristics, its own organization algorithm, ”said the head of Rosstat Pavel Malkov.

Explaining the reasons for some delay in the census, he noted that it is necessary to re-equip the premises, establish an IT infrastructure to ensure data protection and transfer the collected information to the census control center at Rosstat. “People need time to get some rest and switch to new tasks,” he said.

According to Malkov, “the census will require a full concentration of forces to solve the main task – to collect the most accurate and reliable information about the demographic situation in the country and the state of the housing stock.”

Rosstat also said that on Friday, a meeting on preparations for the All-Russian census was held at the government’s coordination center, chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Andrei Belousov, in which representatives of the regions took part. During the meeting, Rosstat, following the results of the analysis and consultations with the regions, announced new dates for the main stage of the census.

Earlier it was reported that the results of the All-Russian population census will be published by the end of 2022.

All-Russian population census postponed repeatedly… It was first moved from the fall of 2020 to the spring of 2021, citing the coronavirus pandemic. It was planned to rewrite certain categories of citizens in March, and the main stage to be held in April. Earlier, due to the coronavirus, the early stage of the census in Chukotka, scheduled for April 2020, was also postponed.

The total budget of the All-Russian Population Census was previously estimated by Rosstat at about 33 billion rubles – for all years and measures for the preparation, conduct, calculation and publication of the census results, including half of all expenses are the payroll of census takers.

For the first time, the All-Russian Population Census will be held in digital format. The main innovation will be the ability to independently fill out an electronic census form on the “Gosuslugi” portal. Enumerators will use tablets with special software to walk around living quarters.

It will also be possible to pass the census at the census districts, including in the premises of the multifunctional centers for the provision of state and municipal services “My Documents”.

According to preliminary data from Rosstat, the population of Russia in 2020 decreased by more than 0.5 million people, to 146.24 million people. The population as of January 1, 2021 became the minimum since the beginning of 2014 – then it was 143.7 million.After the annexation of Crimea at the beginning of 2015, the population of the Russian Federation increased to 146.3 million. The minimum was recorded at the beginning of 2009 – 142.7 million people.