The people in Moldova for the first time will be able to report violations and irregularities committed by census takers during the population and dwellings census of this month, Lucia Spoiala, director general of the Natal Bureau of Statistics, said in the program “Moldova live” on the public TV channel Moldova 1, IPN reports.

According to Lucia Spoiala, there will be set up special offices where the people will be able to report the violations committed by census takers or to complete the questionnaires if they do not want to do it at home.

The people will receive beforehand participation notices by which they will be informed about their rights and obligations. The census takers will be obliged to wear special grey uniforms with the census logo printed at the back, and badges at the chest.

The four questionnaires are: 1CL – Questionnaire on residential buildings; 2P – Questionnaire on person; 3SCL – Questionnaire on collective dwelling places; 4S – Questionnaire for persons staying temporarily, for up to 12 months. The mapping of the population and homes is aimed at obtaining information about the number of people, the territorial distribution of the population, demographic, ethnic-cultural, education and economic characteristics, the housing sector and residential buildings, and to assess the living conditions of the people,” said Lucia Spoiala.

“A part of the population perceives the census incorrectly, considering it a method used by the Government to find out if everyone pays taxes. Others believe that the data can be manipulated. The people should known that the relevant international methodology will be respected during the census. The questions are formulated clearly, while the results will be anonymous.”

The population and dwellings census in Moldova will take place on May 12-25. The information collected by questionnaires will be confidential. More than 11,000 census takers will be involved in data collection. The last population census in Moldova was taken in 2004. Moldova is the first ex-Soviet country that performs such a census, when both the population and the homes are counted, as in the EU.