Avoid further delay in conducting the Census
26-08-2023
11:33 AM
1 min read
Why in News?
- Recently, the government postponed the decennial census exercise (Census 2021) till at least September 2023, as it informed states that administrative boundaries would be frozen beginning July 1, 2023.
- It was intended to be conducted between 2020-21 but did not take place due to the spread of COVID-19.
Background of Census
- The Census is the enumeration of the population of the country and it is being conducted at an interval of 10 years by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- In the Census, data is collected on demographic and various socio-economic parameters like education, language, marriage, fertility, disability, occupation and migration of the individuals.
- It was first started under British Viceroy Lord Mayo in 1872 and the first systematic census in India was held in 1881.
- The Census 2021 will be the 15th Census and will be conducted in two phases, i.e., house listing and population enumeration.
- It will also provide a facility to the public for self-enumeration and for the first time, the exercise will use Mobile App for data collection.
- In addition to allowing online self-enumeration, enumerators will continue home visits to collect census data as in the past.
What is the significance of Census?
- The Census provides population data and characteristics, housing and amenities for every village and town.
- It helps in framing government programs to uplift vulnerable sections and it is used to validate or reject estimates of various sample surveys.
- The Census data are used to determine the number of seats to be reserved for SCs, STs in Parliament and State legislatures and delimitation of constituencies.
- In case of panchayats and municipal bodies, reservation of seats for SCs and STs is based on their proportion in the population. Other than the Census, there is no other source that can provide this information.
- It is also the basis for reviewing the country's progress in the past decade, monitoring the ongoing schemes of the government and planning for the future.
Why there is the need to freeze Administrative Boundaries?
- Before every Census, states are required to provide information on changes in the number of notified districts, villages, towns and other administrative units such as tehsils, talukas and police stations to the Registrar General of India (RGI).
- Freezing of boundary limits of administrative units, at least three months prior, thus is a prerequisite for conducting the census, to prevent State governments’ tendency to create new districts and tehsils or reorganise existing ones.
- If changes in administration boundaries happen during a Census, there would be chaos in the field over supervision of such areas. This could lead to some areas being left out of the Census.
- The house-listing operations were traditionally taken up in various States at different points of time between March and September of the year prior to the Census.
- As a result, the government may have decided to freeze administrative boundaries to coincide with house-listing operations, thereby shortening the time between the freezing of boundaries and the actual Census enumeration.
What are the implications of the delay in Census?
- Non-availability of reliable data: Though India has population projections at the State and national level, but it is not feasible to get reliable projections at lower geographic levels such as for districts and cities until census is not conducted.
- Limitation of sample surveys: Information on the improvement in literacy and educational levels, economic activity, migration, etc., or the impact of schemes like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is derived from sample surveys.
- But these surveys cannot be used to find answers related to literacy rates in villages or proportion of people in tehsil getting regular potable water supply.
- Such information related to population characteristics, housing, amenities, etc., are provided by timely conducted census.
- Ambiguity in granting reservation: Delay in the Census means that the data from the 2011 Census would continue to be used to determine the reservation of seats for SCs, STs, etc., in legislature, local bodies, etc.
- Since many towns and panchayats have seen rapid changes in the composition of their population over the last decade, delaying census would mean that either too many or too few seats are being reserved.
- Dynamic rural-urban distribution: The rural-urban population has been rapidly changing and there is high population growth in the urban areas over the years due to migration.
- For example, areas under the Bengaluru Municipality grew by 49.3% during 2001-11, while the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (11.9%), Delhi (11.7%), and Chennai (7%) had much lower growth rates.
- Thus, to enumerate these population dynamics, timely census is critical.
- Enumerating Covid mortality: The pandemic impact on age distribution in severely affected areas would give an indirect approximation of the number of deaths.
- The census could validate or reject the various estimates of the number of deaths due to the pandemic.
- Discrepancies in PDS entitlement: The National Food Security Act, 2013, entitles subsidised food grains to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population, utilizing 2011 Census (121 crore).
- However, today India’s population has grown to about 137crore and current delay in Census data would deprive more than 10 crore people of subsidised food entitlements.
What can be done to ensure timely conduct of Census?
- Make timely conduct of census a Constitutional obligation: The Constitution mentions the use of Census data for delimitation of constituencies and to determine reservation for SCs and STs, but does not mention about the periodicity of the census.
- The Census Act, 1948, which predates the Constitution, also provides the legal background for several activities relating to the Census without mentioning anything about its periodicity.
- This puts the onus of deciding when to conduct a Census on the executive., unlike S. and Japan where the Constitution or the Census law mandates a Census with defined periodicity.
- India needs to simulate this practice for timely conduct of Census.
- Dissociate Census from NPR: The decision to collect data for the National Population Register (NPR) through the Census operations was highly debated.
- Such controversies negatively impact the Census, which is the largest administrative exercise for collecting data.
- Thus, the central government should disassociate the Census from a politically sensitive issue like NPR as it has already been considerably delayed.
- This would help complete the Census as early as possible and maintain reliability of data.
Conclusion
- The first Census after 2026 would be used for delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies and for the distribution of parliamentary seats among the States.
- Due to the disparity in population growth rates between the States, there could be changes in the distribution of seats in Parliament, and hence the Census is likely to be held in a more politically charged atmosphere, thus it is necessary that this Census is done as early as possible.
- The house-listing and the population enumeration phases were postponed owing to the pandemic in 2020, but the normalcy has been restored to a large extent now and hence there is no reason for a further postponement.
Q1) What is the function of Registrar General of India?
The office of RGI is primarily responsible for the Housing & Population Census, Civil Registration System, Sample Registration System, National Population Register, and Mother Tongue Survey.
Q2) What is national population register?
The National Population Register (NPR) is a Register containing details of persons usually residing in a village or rural area or town or ward or demarcated area within a ward in a town or urban area.
Download PDF
Share this article
