Census-taking will begin a month early in remote areas of Kachin State, including areas affected by an ongoing conflict between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army, according to the Kachin News Group. “An advance census will be performed in Putao, Machyangbaw, Sumprabum, N’jang Yang and Chipwi starting from March 1, because the census collection cannot be completed during the scheduled 12 day period,” said Tin Soe, the head of the government’s immigration and population department. Kachin groups have objected to plans to list Kachin subgroups as separate ethnicities on the census, but the government has declined to change the categories.