A special programme has been launched for census taking of the Maldivian diaspora in Trivandrum, India, reports newspaper Haveeru.
The census started on Saturday and 78 census forms had been filled so far, according to Ibrahim Nadheeh, president of Maldivian Social Community (MSC).
MCS was founded by the Maldives Consulate in Trivandrum and Maldivians living in Trivandrum. About 3,000 Maldivians reside in the southernmost Indian city.
Nadheeh said that he expected the census to be completed within a week and noted that proper records of Maldivians living in the city would be helpful in the future.
“In addition to this, we have plans to teach Quran, Islam and Dhivehi here. With the completion of the census, we can find out the number of children who live here,” he was quoted as saying.
In late 2012, the government announced that a national census would be conducted in 2014. The last census was conducted in 2006 by the Ministry of Planning and Development, which found the population to be 298,968.
In March 2013, the department of national planning announced that the census would be conducted in September next year under the slogan “count me in.”
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