Context: 

The 2021 Census had to be postponed because of the Covid pandemic, the first time in the 150-year history of India’s census operations that the exercise was not completed on time. 

About Census:

• Census is the basis for reviewing the country’s progress in the past decade, monitoring the ongoing schemes of the government and planning for the future.
• Census provides detailed and authentic information on demography, economic activity, literacy and education, housing and household amenities, urbanization, fertility and mortality, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, language, religion, migration, disability and many other socio-cultural and demographic data.

Census process:

• Questions and forms: Census data is taken by visiting each and every household and gathering particulars by asking questions and filling up census forms.

• Confidential information: The information collected during the process is confidential. In fact, this information is not even accessible to the courts of law.

• Transportation to data processing centers: The forms are transported to data processing centers located at 15 cities across the country.

• Intelligent Character Recognition Software (ICR): This technology came in India in Census 2001 and has become the benchmark for censuses all around the globe.
• Scanning and extraction of data: This involves the scanning of the census forms at high speed and extracting the data automatically using computer software.

First Census in India under British rule:

• The first complete census of India was conducted in 1830 by Henry Walter in Dacca (now Dhaka). 
• In this census the statistics of the population with sex, broad age group, and the houses with their amenities were collected.

First synchronous Census:

• The first synchronous census was taken under British rule in 1881 by W.C. Plowden, Census Commissioner of India. 
• Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every ten years.

Census 2011: The latest one

• Census 2011 was the 15th National Census of the country since 1872 and the 7th after Independence. It was conducted in two phases which are:
  • House Listing or Housing Census
  • Population Enumeration

The 2021 Census:

• It had to be postponed because of the Covid pandemic, the first time in the 150-year history of India’s census operations that the exercise was not completed on time. 
• It has been pending even after the end of the pandemic and the restoration of normalcy.

What does the Constitution say on conducting the census?

• There are repeated references to the Census exercise in the Constitution in the context of reorganisation of constituencies for Parliament and state Assemblies. 
• But the Constitution does not say when the Census has to be carried out, or what the frequency of this exercise should be. 
• The Census of India Act of 1948, which provides the legal framework for carrying out the Census, also does not mention its timing or periodicity.
• There is, therefore, no Constitutional or legal requirement that a Census has to be done every 10 years.

Utility of Census:

• The Census produces primary, authentic data that becomes the backbone of every statistical enterprise, informing all planning, administrative and economic decision-making processes. 
• It is the basis on which every social, economic and other indicator is built. 
• Lack of reliable data has the potential to upset every indicator on India, and affect the efficacy and efficiency of all kinds of developmental initiatives.

News Source: Indian Express