INDIA - Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), July 2019-June 2020

In a large village, there exist usually a few localities or pockets where the houses of the village tend to cluster together. These are called 'hamlets'. In case there are no such recognised hamlets in the village, the census sub-divisions of the village (e.g. enumeration blocks or groups of census house numbers or geographically distinct blocks of houses) may be treated as 'hamlets'. Large hamlets may be divided artificially to achieve more or less equal population content for the purpose of hamlet-group formation. The procedure for formation of hamlet-groups is best described, perhaps, by listing sequentially the steps involved:
(i) Identify the hamlets as described above.
(ii) Ascertain approximate present population of each hamlet.
(iii) Draw a notional map in block 3 showing the location of the hamlets and number them in a serpentine order starting from the northwest corner and proceeding southwards. While drawing this map, uninhabited area (non-abadi area) of the village will be included as part of nearby hamlet, so that no area of the village is left out. The boundaries of the hamlets may be defined with the help of some landmarks like canals, footpaths, railway lines, roads, cadastral survey plot numbers etc., so that it would be possible to identify and locate the geographical boundaries of the hamlet-groups to be formed in the village.
(iv) List the hamlets in Block 4.1 in the order of their numbering. Indicate the present population content in terms of percentages.
(v) Group the hamlets into D hamlet-groups. The criteria to be adopted for hamlet-group formation are equality of population content and geographical contiguity (numbering of hamlets is not to be adopted as a guideline for grouping). In case there is a conflict between the two aspects, geographical contiguity is to be given priority. However, there should not be substantial difference between the population of the smallest and the largest hamlet-group formed. Indicate the grouping in the map.
(vi) Number the hamlet-groups serially in column (1) of Block 4.2. The hamlet-group containing hamlet number 1 will be numbered as 1, the hamlet-group with next higher hamlet number not included in hg 1 will be numbered as 2 and so on. Indicate the numbers also in the notional map. It is quite possible that a hamlet-group may not be constituted of hamlets with consecutive serial numbers.