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.