Centre postpones Census again; January 1 deadline for freezing boundaries
The 2021 Census of India has reportedly been postponed once again. The office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) has asked states and union territories to freeze administrative boundaries for the decennial exercise by January 1, 2024, extending the deadline. The Census was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it will now likely be conducted only after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Why does this story matter?
After being stalled for two years, the 2021 Census was expected to be held in 2023. However, the RGI's latest communication to states/UTs confirms the further delay. The Census is the official data of the country to check the progress from a reference point. It is conducted by the RGI and the Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
National Population Register will be conducted come before Census
The Indian Express reported a Census in 2023 is unlikely because the enumeration can only commence a few months after administrative borders are locked and general elections are slated for 2024, ruling out the possibility. In addition, the Census would be preceded by the National Population Register (NPR). Notably, the deadline for jurisdictional modifications was June 30, 2023, and before that, December 31, 2022.
Bill in offing to merge Census with electoral roll: Shah
In May, Union Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah said the Centre was planning to table a bill to the Parliament to link data related to birth and death with electoral rolls and the overall development process. Shah had said such digital, complete, and accurate census figures would have multi-dimensional benefits, and planning schemes based on it ensure development reaches the poorest of the poor.
Census budget slashed by over Rs. 2,000 crore
The central government started gearing up for the Census 2021 in 2019 and allocated a budget for it. About 33 lakh workers were to be deployed for door-to-door collection of data for the Census. However, subsequently, the budget allocated for Census 2021 has been slashed from Rs. 3,676 crore in the last budget to Rs. 1,564 crore in the 2023-23 Union Budget, reported TIE.
Census has never been delayed since independence
The continuous delay in Census is the first such postponement in its more than 150-year history. Due to World War II, the publishing of Census data was delayed in 1941, despite the fact that the information was gathered on time. Apart from that, the Census was disrupted by the India-China conflict in 1961 and the Indo-Pakistan war in 1971, although it was never postponed.
