Long-delayed Census likely to be initiated early next year

New Delhi: While the Centre is yet to make any official announcement, the long-pending exercise of the Census is likely to be initiated early next year, sources indicated.

The decennial census would also pave the way for the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats, which is needed to implement a 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and Assemblies.

Sources say the government is trying to address the concerns of the Southern states on the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies.

To this end, last week, the government extended the tenure of Mritunjay Kumar Narayan as Registrar General and Census Commissioner by 20 months. There is no confirmation if the exercise will include caste enumeration. The Census, which will be a year-long process, will be completed before the delimitation exercise begins; the move could help bolster the ruling BJP’s chances in Maharashtra, too.

A Gazette notification was issued on October 21 citing President Droupadi Murmu’s approval for the extension  of tenure of Narayan, a 1995-batch Uttar Pradesh cadre officer. The central deputation of Narayan, who assumed the office of Registrar General and Census Commissioner on November 1, 2022, was to end on December 6 this year. He will now continue in his position till August 4, 2026. 

The government will also initiate the process of upgrading the National Population Register (NPR). While the Census is to be carried out decadally, and was due in 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the exercise has been delayed till now. Several Opposition parties have questioned the long delay, as well as put forward the demand for a caste census. 

“The process will begin in early 2025, and it will take a year to complete it, following which the delimitation process is likely to begin,” an official said, adding that the delimitation exercise is set to end by 2028. 

The delimitation exercise, however, has led to questions from the Southern states who believe that if the exercise is based on population parameters, then they stand to lose seats in Parliament despite better social indicators. The ruling BJP is looking at bringing them on board with a viable solution. 

To prepare for the exercise, the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner had prepared 31 questions on several parameters to be asked to respondents, with questions ranging from demographics to financial capacities. While it remains to be seen whether a caste Census will be carried out, among the 31 questions is if the respondents belong to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.

Apart from that, the structure and construction of the house the respondents are dwelling in, including the number of rooms and presence of sanitation facilities, their assets in terms of automobiles and others, etc are included in the questionnaire. 

The last Census carried out in India was in 2011, when the total population was found to be 121 crore, with 68.84 per cent of people residing in rural areas, and 31.16 per cent in urban areas. The sex ratio was found to be 940 females per 1,000 males.