CENSUS - POLITY
News: Decennial
census put off till September to freeze boundaries
What's in the news?
● The
decennial census exercise has been postponed till September, at least, as the Government
informed States that the date of freezing of administrative boundaries has been
extended till June 30.
Key takeaways:
● As
per norms, census can be conducted only
three months after freezing of boundary limits of administrative units such
as districts, sub-districts, tehsils, talukas and police stations.
● The
finalization of boundaries of administrative units entails covering all
jurisdictional changes between two consecutive censuses. The last census was
held in 2011.
Why there is delay in decennial census?
● The
first phase of Census 2021 - the House listing and Housing Census along with
updating the National Population Register (NPR) were scheduled to be held from April-September 2020 but were postponed
indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
● The
second phase and the main phase of the decennial census exercise - the
population enumeration were to be concluded by March 5, 2021.
Provisional datas:
● Total
number of districts - 640 in 2011 to
736 presently.
● Total
number of sub-districts - 5,925 in
2011 to 6,754 presently.
● Statutory towns
- 4,041 in 2011 to 4,657 at present.
● Census towns
- 3,892 in 2011 to 5,050 at present
● Villages
- decreased from 6,40,934 in 2011 to 6,39,083 in 2021.
Census:
● Census
includes the total process of collecting, compiling, analyzing, evaluating,
publishing and disseminating statistical data regarding the population and its
characteristics.
● Population characteristics
include demographic, social and economic data and are provided as of a
particular date (reference period).
● Census
provides detailed information on
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.
History of census:
● A
systematic and modern population census, in its present form was conducted
non-synchronously between 1865 and 1872 in different parts of the country.
● The
first population census of India under British Viceroy Lord Mayo in 1872.
● The
first decennial census in India was held in 1881 by W.C. Plowden, Census Commissioner of India.
○ In
this census, the main emphasis was not only laid on complete coverage but also
on the classification of demographic, economic and social characteristic took
in the entire continent of British India (except Kashmir).
● Since
then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every ten year.
Authority to conduct census:
● Post
1949, it has been conducted by the Registrar
General and Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
● All
the censuses since 1951 were conducted under the 1948 Census of India Act.
● The
information collected during the process is confidential. In fact, this information is not even accessible to
the courts of law.
What's new in 2021 census?
● For
the first time, the data will be collected digitally
via mobile applications.
● It
will not collect caste data.
● For
the first time, the information of households headed by a person from the transgender community and members
living in the family will be collected.