MISSING CENSUS AND CONSEQUENCES
1.Context
An annual report by the UN Population Fund revealed that India was all set to become the world’s most populous country by the middle of this year
It estimated that India’s population would be 1,428 million (or 142.8 crore) by that time, slightly ahead of China’s population of 1,425 million.
The 2021 Census had to be postponed because of the Covid pandemic, the first time in the 150-year history of India’s census operations that the exercise was not completed on time
2.Census
- The census provides information on size, distribution and socio-economic, demographic and other characteristic of the country's population.
- The Census was first started under British Viceroy Lord Mayo in 1872.
- It helped in framing new policies, government programs to uplift areas of improvement in the community.
- The first synchronous census in India was held in 1881.
- Every ten years: Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every ten years.
- The responsibility of conducting the decennial Census rests with the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
India’s first Census was held in 1872, conducted non-synchronously in different parts of the country. After that, India has held its decadal censuses regularly from 1881 to 2011
3. Ten year Circle
- A Census is Constitutionally mandated in India. There are repeated references to the Census exercise in the Constitution in the context of reorganisation of constituencies for Parliament and state Assemblies
- onstitution does not say when the Census has to be carried out, or what the frequency of this exercise should be
- The Census of India Act of 1948, which provides the legal framework for carrying out the Census, also does not mention its timing or periodicity
- There is, therefore, no Constitutional or legal requirement that a Census has to be done every 10 years
- However, this exercise has been carried out in the first year of every decade, without fail, since 1881
- Most other countries also follow the 10-year cycle for their Census. There are countries like Australia that do it every five years
- It is not the legal requirement but the utility of the Census that has made it a permanent regular exercise
4.Census Schedule
- The Census is essentially a two-step process involving a house-listing and numbering exercise followed by the actual population enumeration
- The house-listing and numbering takes place in the middle of the year prior to the Census year.
- The population enumeration, happens in two to three weeks of February
- To account for the births and deaths that might have happened during the enumeration period in February, the enumerators go back to the households in the first week of March to carry out revisions.
- There are several intermediate steps as well, and preparations for the Census usually begin three to four years in advance. The compilation and publication of the entire data also takes months to a few years
5. Way ahead
The Census produces primary, authentic data that becomes the backbone of every statistical enterprise, informing all planning, administrative and economic decision-making processes
It is the basis on which every social, economic and other indicator is built
Lack of reliable data 12-year-old data on a constantly changing metric is not reliable has the potential to upset every indicator on India, and affect the efficacy and efficiency of all kinds of developmental initiatives
Besides, a break in periodicity results in data that is not comparable in some respects to the earlier sets
Source: indianexpress
