Part of: Prelims and GS – II – Government policies and interventions
In news Owing to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, Census 2021 and other Census-related field activities have been postponed until further orders.
The forthcoming Census is to be the first digital Census and there is a provision for self-enumeration.
Self-enumeration refers to completion of census survey questionnaires by the respondents themselves.
A mobile application for data collection and a Census portal for managing and monitoring various Census related activities have been developed.
What is Census?
In Census ( decennial census), data is collected on demographic and various socio-economic parameters like education, SC/ST, religion, language, marriage, fertility, disability, occupation and migration of the individuals.
Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India under Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India is responsible for carrying out the census.
It provides information on size, distribution and socio-economic, demographic and other characteristics of the country’s population.
The first synchronous census in India was held in 1881. Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every ten years.
As per the official Gazette, the individual data collected in Census under the Census Act, 1948, are not made public as per the provisions contained in the Act.
The individual data are not used for the preparation of any other database, including the National Register of Citizens.
Only the aggregated Census data at various administrative levels are released.
What are the Benefits of Census?
Evidence based Policy Making: Enumerating, describing and understanding the population of a society and what people have access to, and what they are excluded from, is important not only for social scientists but also for policy practitioners and the government.
Ensures Equity in Governance: Since Independence, aggregated Census data on the SCs & STs on certain parameters such as education have been collected. This data will help the government to remedy inequalities present in the society.
Delimitation Exercise: Delimitation Commission sets up boundaries of electoral constituencies based on the data obtained from decennial census
Developmental Purposes: Businesses use census data to decide where to build factories, offices and stores, and this creates jobs. Developers use the census to build new homes and revitalize old neighbourhoods.
Cooperative Federalism: Central government funds, grants and support to states and local governments consider population totals and breakdowns by sex, age, caste and other factors.
Civic Participation in Governance: Commenting on the 1941 Census, Census Commissioner Yeatts observed that, “Thanks to the acute interest in community figures, practically all communities this time were census-conscious and took pains to see that their houses were in the list and that they themselves were counted.” Census thus ensures that Democracy is participative in nature.
