Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram stands with a census official (2 R) holding details of Indian President Pratibha Patil (C) and her family members on the launch day of the 2011 census at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi on Thursday, 01 April 2010. About two and a half million officials have begun the task of collecting national population information across India"s 650,000 villages and 5,500 towns and cities to record the chaotic South Asian nation"s teeming billion-plus population.

Photographer: A Sarthak

Tags: Home MinisterPalaniappan ChidambaramUnion Minister of Home AffairsAll India Congress CommitteeUnited Progressive AlliancePratibha Devisingh PatilIndian PresidentPresident of IndiaIndian PoliticianAll India Congress CommitteeCongressFirst Woman President of IndiaWoman President12th President of IndiaIndian PoliticianCensus 2011 LaunchedPhoto Stock