1st census under Modi govt soon

New Delhi: The NDA government is preparing to conduct the decadal census, which is set to be the first one since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office in 2014.

There’s been no decision on including a column on caste amid pressing demand from the Opposition, including the Congress, regarding caste survey, according to sources. “This is yet to be decided,” the source said, when asked about the inclusion of a caste column in the census. The Women’s Reservation Act, enacted last year, is also linked to the census. The law that reserves one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will come into effect after delimitation based on the first census recorded post-Act enactment.

The census, traditionally conducted every ten years in India since 1881, was postponed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the absence of recent data, government agencies rely on the 2011 census for policy formulation and subsidy allocation.

The house listing and the National Population Register (NPR) update, which were planned for April 1 to September 30, 2020, were also delayed due to the pandemic. Officials estimate the entire exercise of conducting a census and NPR exercise will cost over Rs 12,000 crore. This will be India’s first digital census, allowing citizens to self-enumerate through a portal yet to be launched. During self-enumeration, Aadhaar or mobile numbers will be mandatory. The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner has prepared 31 questions for the same. These questions include details about household assets, access to amenities and housing conditions.