New Delhi, Feb. 4 -- About 3.2 million Census functionaries involved in conducting the largest administrative exercise will be trained on how to approach people, ask questions, build rapport, ensure absolute confidentiality of data, maintain complete neutrality in conduct and sensitivity when interacting with the public, particularly on personal questions, the Registrar General of India (RGI) has said while issuing a document outlining the strategy and guidelines for training for the first phase. Asserting that these three million functionaries will be engaged in a task of national importance and that data quality hinges on a clear and uniform understanding of Census concepts and questions, RGI Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said in a circular, issued on January 30, that "effective training of field functionaries acts as a cornerstone for a successful Census". "It serves (as) the foundational step to build a highly skilled and motivated workforce capable of executing a seamless, accurate, and trustworthy Census by adopting a cascade training model, emphasizing hands-on digital tool proficiency, data privacy, and inclusiveness by making the data collection process humane," said the circular sent to states, Union Territories and directors of Census operations (DCOs), . Narayan said while his office and DCOs would oversee and monitor all training activities, the state/UT governments were responsible for ensuring effective implementation of training guidelines for functionaries. There are 100 national trainers from DCOs; 2,000 master trainers -- comprising DCOs and officers nominated by states; 45,000 field trainers -- sourced from states; and three million enumerators and supervisors -- who will conduct data collection....