Announcement of census ‘very soon’: Amit Shah

New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Tuesday that the government will “very soon” reveal plans for conducting the long-awaited national census. The decennial population count, originally scheduled for 2021, has faced significant delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at a press conference marking 100 days of the NDA government’s third term, Shah responded to questions about the census, stating: “We will announce it very soon.” The Home Minister, joined by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, addressed growing concerns over the delayed population survey.

The census, a crucial tool for policymaking and resource allocation, has been conducted every ten years in India since 1881. The pandemic disrupted plans for the first phase of this decade’s count, initially set to begin on April 1, 2020.

Shah’s comments come amid increasing demands from various political parties for a caste census. When questioned about including caste data in the upcoming census, the Home Minister said: “We will make all the details public when we announce the census.”

The delay has forced government agencies to rely on outdated 2011 census data for policy formulation and subsidy allocation, highlighting the urgent need for fresh demographic information.

The upcoming census is expected to be India’s first digital population count, offering citizens the option to self-enumerate. This modernization effort aims to streamline the process and improve data accuracy. The National Population Register (NPR) update will be integrated with the census, with self-enumeration requiring either an Aadhaar number or mobile number for verification.

The census questionnaire, prepared by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, will have 31 questions covering a wide range of topics. These questions include whether a family has a telephone, internet connection, mobile or smartphone, bicycle, scooter or motorcycle or moped, whether they own a car, jeep or a van.

The citizens will also be asked what is the cereal they consume in the household, main source of drinking water, main source of lighting, access to toilet, type of toilet, waste water outlet, availability of bathing facility, availability of kitchen and LPG/PNG connection, main fuel used for cooking, availability of radio, transistor, television.

The citizens will also be asked about the predominant material of the floor, wall and roof of the house, condition of the house, total number of persons normally residing in the household, whether the head of the household is a woman, whether the head of the household belongs to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, number of dwelling rooms exclusively in possession of the household, number of married couple(s) living in the household among others.

Officials estimate the entire census and NPR exercise will cost the government over Rs 12,000 crore.