2027's housing census trims questions but adds digital-age indicators like Internet and smartphones.
The Indian government has released the list of questions to be asked during the first phase of the Census 2027, focusing on houselisting and housing enumeration. The survey will cover various aspects of housing conditions, household characteristics, and access to basic amenities.
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved Rs 11,718 crore for conducting the Census of India, 2027, which would include the caste enumeration for the first time.
Census exercise with caste enumeration will be carried out with the reference date of October 1, 2026, in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and of March 1, 2027, in the rest of the country, the Home Ministry announced on Wednesday.
Caste census politics took centre stage on Thursday with the Congress terming the government's decision as a 'diversionary tactic' and a move for headlines management and the Bharatiya Janata Party saying it has exposed the difference between the Centre's 'true intentions' and the 'empty sloganeering' of the opposition party.
India's decadal census is likely to be further delayed after the budget allocated only Rs 574.80 crore for the exercise, a significant reduction from previous years. The census, originally scheduled for 2021, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government has not yet announced a new schedule. The budget allocation suggests that the exercise may not be carried out even after the delay. The upcoming census will be the first digital census, allowing citizens to self-enumerate using a dedicated portal. The exercise will be made compulsory for citizens who wish to self-enumerate, and Aadhaar or mobile numbers will be required. The census will include questions on household demographics, amenities, and economic status.
The much-delayed decadal census exercise and the work to update the National Population Register (NPR) are likely to begin early 2025 and the data will be declared by 2026, thus changing future census cycles completely, official sources said.
The entire census and NPR exercise is likely to cost the government over Rs 12,000 crore, the officials said.
The interim budget 2024-24 on Thursday allocated Rs 1,277.80 crore for census, a significant reduction from 2021-22 when Rs 3,768 crore was allocated and an indication that the exercise may not be carried out even after three years of delay.
'In the larger cities, we can see that 12%-20% of the population making use of the metros. I don't think it is happening in the smaller cities.'
No proof, no document, no biometric will be needed under it as NPR will be conducted through self-certification, said the minister.
The first census of slum households, released by the Census of India today, shows the difference in poverty levels of those living in slums and others isn't much. In the case of some amenities and assets, those staying in slums seem to be better off, the survey shows.
Roy accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of telling a "lie" at his Ramlila Ground rally in New Delhi on Sunday that his government never said anything about the NRC process and that there are no detention camps in the country.
Explore the interactive map above to see the working children per 1000 population and the percentage change over the period from 2001 to 2011.
Rediff.com's Priyanka meets Dr C Chandramouli, the Census Commissioner of India, where he explains what it takes to organise the mammoth exercise.
Only 16.4 per cent of Bihar's 1.89 crore families or households have the luxury to light up their residences with electricity, the remaining, nearly 83.6 per cent families are forced to live without electricity, a household amenities and assets in Bihar report released by the Census of India has said.
Shah said that the NPR will not affect the nationality status of any citizen of the country.
Nearly 70 per cent of the country's population lives in rural areas where, for the first time since independence, the overall growth rate of population has sharply declined, according to the latest Census.
The Census of India is holding a photography contest, details of which have been put on its Facebook page 'Census 2011'. As the census exercise enters the penultimate phase, here's a chance for you to 'focus' on India's "strength in numbers" and win a prize.
The map above shows the change in literacy rate across states of India from 2001 to 2011 as reported by the Census of India.
'The BJP is the most progressive force within Hinduism today.'
Even though the overall death rate of children under the age of one in India has decreased by 7 per cent, the number from rural India is disturbing.
Replying to the debate in Rajya Sabha on a motion thanking the president for his address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, he said for the first time in decades, people of Jammu and Kashmir got benefits of reservation.
Congress seeks to corner govt over NPR, claims MHA report calls it 'first step to NRC'
Here is all you need to know about the National Population Register and worries over its links with NRC.
Rediff labs analysed the socio-economic caste census 2011 data on number of manual scavengers in India.
'Is it time to think beyond the traditional questionnaire-based approach in India?' asks Atanu Biswas.
Rediff Labs analyzed the data on district wise child marriages in India by Census of India 2011.
As male bovines today account for only 28 per cent of India's cattle, it clearly shows that it is the bulls and not the cows that are mostly being butchered. This makes it clear that cow slaughter is not a problem but the slaughter of male bovines is whose main utility today is in the value of their meat, says Murad Ali Baig.
The Union home ministry is expected to forward the proposal to the Registrar General & Census Commissioner for a detailed examination and suggestions, a ministry official said.
As Indrani, Sanjeev Khanna and Peter pass cupboard no 6 -- where the skull is stored -- what thoughts pass through their mind?
For a country with a huge atheist vote bank, relatively few claim to be irreligious, says Devangshu Datta
India's rising GDP may have propelled the middle class to become richer, buy new cars, travel around the world and build assets, but it further pushed the economically disadvantaged and poor into poverty and drudgery, says Devanik Saha.
The sentiments of the ignorant are what politicians unfortunately fan to inflame passions for political gain, says Murad Ali Baig
For more than half of all Indian households, the very personal act of defecation is an open affair, says Joel Rai
Between 2001 and 2011, the number of rural habitations with population of less than 1,000 has declined sharply
Crores of first-time voters will vote against the Congress -- and tens of crores of existing voters shall do the same. The challenges the Congress shall face after the general election of 2014 may be the most severe that the party has ever tackled, says T V R Shenoy.
'The failure of the ECI to follow the Registration of Electoral Rules and create verified and audited rolls or even verifiable and auditable ones, highlight that the entire electoral roll is merely a compilation of names without any effort or intention for completeness, correctness or fair play.' 'We are fooling ourselves by electing our representatives based on faulty electoral rolls that do not represent the people of the constituency. Elections based on these rolls are neither free nor fair. Democracy is under siege,' says Dr Anupam Saraph.
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