Image for representation.
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Reports about the government’s plan to hold the census next year are welcome, though they have not been officially confirmed yet. According to these reports, the exercise will start next year and will be completed in 2026. The modalities of the census, which should have been held in 2021, are still not known, just as the reasons for the inordinate delay are.
It was not possible to hold the census in 2021 when it was due because the country was in the grip of the Covid pandemic. The preparations had started when the pandemic broke out. But the government did not take steps to hold the census after the pandemic ended. The decadal census has been held in the country without a break since 1881. India is among the 44 countries which failed to conduct the census since the pandemic.
The census compiles the essential database of the population which is required for the government and other organisations to frame policies and strategies relating to the economy, social welfare, and other areas. Data about the income and composition of households, consumption patterns, access to basic facilities, educational levels, and employment situation are necessary inputs when designing programmes meant to address issues relating to livelihood and other needs of the people.
There are differences in all these areas across geographies, states, social segments, and other categories. Specific and reliable data will help in formulating policies directed at regions or groups and making interventions necessary to redress grievances and address the unevenness of development. Such data is especially needed for India which is the world’s most populous country and is at the lower rung in many welfare and development indices. India also has the fastest-growing major economy in the world. Reliable data is necessary to frame policies that sustain economic growth.
There is a demand to make caste enumeration a part of the census. The existing figures of the relative numerical strength of castes are outdated as the last caste census was conducted in 1931. Opposition parties have made a pitch for it as part of the demand for reconfiguring affirmative action and other policies. The government has not yet said whether the census will include a caste census.
The other controversial aspect of the census is the proposal for the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies based on the updated population figures. That will reduce the political representation of states that have succeeded in reducing their population and will benefit states that have failed to do so. States from the South will oppose putting census data to such an unfair and discriminatory use.