The government has started preparations for conducting the decennial census, but a decision has not yet been taken on including a caste-related column in the process. Sources gave this information on Sunday. A source said on the condition of anonymity that the decennial census will be conducted soon. Census is conducted in India every 10 years since 1881. The first phase of this decennial census was expected to begin on April 1, 2020, but it had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act passed by Parliament last year is also linked to the decennial census. The law reserving one-third of the seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will come into effect after the delimitation process begins on the basis of relevant data from the first census to be held after the enactment of this Act.
Caste census is being raised vigorously
According to news agency PTI, when asked about the inclusion of caste column in the decennial census, the source said, “It is yet to be decided.” Political parties are strongly demanding caste census.
In the absence of fresh data, government agencies are still formulating policies and allocating subsidies based on the 2011 census data.
How will the data be collected?
The house listing phase under the census and upgrading of the National Population Register (NPR) was scheduled to be carried out across the country from April 1 to September 30, 2020, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Officials said that the entire census and NPR process is likely to cost the government more than Rs 12,000 crore. This will be the first digital census, through which citizens will get the opportunity to count themselves. For this, the Census Authority has prepared a self-calculation portal, which has not been launched yet.
Aadhaar or mobile number will be mandatorily collected during self-calculation.
Population Census: Modi government may start census in September, results expected by 2026
