NEW DELHI, Aug 21: The official once-a-decade population census in India, which was due in 2021 but was postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic then, is finally likely to begin from next month.
Official sources on Wednesday said the comprehensive survey would take around 18 months to complete, with the results expected to be released by March 2026.
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The continued delay in the census has drawn strong criticism, with economists and policymakers, both within and outside the government, arguing that the delay has compromised the accuracy and relevance of various statistical surveys, including those related to economic data, inflation, and employment estimates. Currently, most of these data sets rely on the outdated 2011 census, rendering many government schemes and policies less effective.
The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation have been working on a detailed timeline for the census, as per the report. However, the final approval from the Prime Minister’s Office is awaited.
Despite the urgency of this exercise, the Union government has reduced this year’s budget for the 2021 Census. Originally, the Union Cabinet had approved a budget of ₹8,754.23 crore for the census and an additional ₹3,941.35 crore for updating the National Population Register (NPR). However, in the Union Budget 2024-25, the allocation was slashed to ₹1,309 crore, a drastic reduction from the ₹3,768 crore set aside in 2021-22.
This budget cut casted doubts on the exercise this year as well. Last month, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh expressed disappointment that the finance minister’s budget announcements made no mention of adequately funding the census.
“This is the first time since Independence that the Government has failed to conduct a census on time,” he said. “The consequences on the state’s administrative capabilities are serious – one example being the 10-12 crore individuals who have been excluded from the ambit of the National Food Security Act. It also means that the government will likely continue to avoid a socio-economic caste census, despite calls from its own NDA partners for the same,” Ramesh added.
The Census 2021 will be the first digital census giving the citizens an opportunity to self-enumerate, the sources said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
