What Happened To The 2021 Census?

The Census provides the most authentic and reliable data to academicians from various disciplines ranging from sociology to demography to economics

For about 150 years, the Census of India has provided the most authentic and valuable data on citizens of India every ten years without any interruption or disruption. The Census was organised even in 1941 in British ruled India during the Second World War and also in 1971 when hostilities between India and Pakistan were peaking prior to the formation of Bangladesh. Perhaps the only time after independence the Census could not be held in a state was in 1981 in Assam when agitations over the illegal immigrant issue had crippled the state. Even in 1991, when terrorism was ravaging Jammu and Kashmir, the government had successfully organised the Census. Then what explains the delay over the scheduled 2021 Census? It is already July, 2022 and there seems to be no official communication from the government over when the actual process would start. For a country where data is still not as widely available as expected, the seemingly inexplicable delay in the 2021 Census is definitely a cause for worry.

The Census provides the most authentic and reliable data to academicians from various disciplines ranging from sociology to demography to economics. It is also an extremely valuable tool for policy makers as they tweak, change or launch new policies based on data and inputs provided on various sections of the population. For example, it shows how demography of the country is changing, including within states. It shows if traditionally disadvantaged communities like the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes have seen any improvement in their human development indicators. It shows the difference between urban and rural India when it comes to issues like age of marriage, interacted marriage, migration to other regions for work and the number of children per family. All these are crucial as India transits from a low income and extremely poor country with low human development indicators to a middle income country. One example will illustrate how important data from the Census is. Thanks to many welfare schemes for the girl child and mid day meal schemes, the enrolment of girls has shot up to more than 90% in most regions of India. As the accompanying chart shows, the female literacy rate in India improved from about 8% in 1951 to 65% in 2011. Has it actually gone above 90% as research studies indicate? We can get confirmation and credible data only when the Census is completed.

One could understand why the Census process could not start in 2021. The Covid pandemic had disrupted the entire country and it would have been almost impossible for officials to house to house to collect information and data on a whole range of issues when there were severe restrictions on travel. But all restrictions have been lifted since many months. Besides, it is the age of digital technology where enumerators can go house to house with a tablet and not bother about painfully filling up forms and data in their own handwriting. Digital technology will also make collection, compilation and analysis of data a much faster process. It remains a mystery why the government has not kick started the 2021 Census.