Population Foundation of India welcomes the digitisation of the Census but emphasises the need for inclusivity, data security, and addressing the under-reporting of women's contributions.
India has launched digital tools for its upcoming fully digital Census 2027, including mobile apps and a self-enumeration portal, aiming for efficient and accurate data collection.
The 2027 Census may cost a bit more due to the proposed use of apps and smartphones by the 3.4 million enumerators who will collect comprehensive data much more efficiently than in earlier times.
This will be India's 16th Census and the eighth since Independence. For the first time, citizens will also have the option of self-enumeration.
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.
Odisha and Uttar Pradesh are among the first to roll out the digital exercise.
The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, has reassured the public that individual data collected during the upcoming census will remain confidential and cannot be used for any purpose other than statistical aggregation.
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 Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, the first between April and September 2026 and the second in February 2027, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Sitharaman also said the government is also working on a national language translation initiative.
A special dedicated web portal will be launched for self-enumeration during the upcoming Census, which will be available for both phases of the national enumeration exercise, officials said Monday.
'There will be not less than 31 lakh people working in the census process.'
The next Census' findings will help identify the extent of India's ageing population and vulnerability levels.
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.
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.
According to the earlier schedule, the census would have its reference date as March 1, 2021 and in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it would have been October 1, 2020.
The census will be carried out with a reference date of October 1, 2026 in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and March 1, 2027 in the rest of the country, the notification said.
While data can empower communities, it reinforces identities, making local politics more caste-centric, with decisions increasingly contested on the grounds of representation.
Such dynamics could lead to shifting alliances and, in the worst case, local governance getting paralysed as each group demands proportional power-sharing, explain Amitabh Kundu and Mehebub Rahaman.
The Congress on Friday posted its second worst performance in Bihar's electoral history, managing to win only six of the over 50 seats it contested and losing deposits in most seats as its 'vote chori' pitch failed to make any impact on the ground.
The entire census and NPR exercise is likely to cost the government over Rs 12,000 crore, the officials said.
'All governments are scared of a negative image.' 'Somehow, this government has a tendency to create a narrative that things are improving.' 'When the real data gives a different picture, they are upset.'
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.
'It is for the first time in Independent India that collection of information on caste is being done.'
Although the Disaster Management Act for Covid containment measures, considered a hindrance in conducting the census, was withdrawn in March this year the Centre has not taken any further action on conducting the much-delayed population enumeration.
The 'mediation' by the United States from behind the scene on the diplomatic track appears to be once again working, which calls on both Delhi and Islamabad to show restraint and pull back from a military confrontation, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
According to a parliamentary response by the Union health ministry in 2023, around 654,000 families in Delhi are eligible to enrol under the scheme.
'There will be no change of seats for Delhi, Assam and Maharashtra.' 'Andhra, J&K, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana will lose seats while there will be an increase for MP, UP, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.' 'It is a big mistake if you make it a north-south issue.'
'Is it time to think beyond the traditional questionnaire-based approach in India?' asks Atanu Biswas.
Whenever the Census operation resumes, it will capture the impact of Covid-19 to a large extent, including the extra-lethal second wave, reports Abhishek Waghmare.
Inaugurating the Grameen Bharat Mahotsav, the Prime Minister exuded confidence that villages will play a key role in pushing forward the dream of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Do we have enough trained oncologists and medical professionals in India to man these over 4,500 beds in the public sector?
The CAA was enacted in December 2019 for granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians.
For a country with a huge atheist vote bank, relatively few claim to be irreligious, says Devangshu Datta
Inaugurating the 'Janganana Bhawan', the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Shah said census is a process that may form the basis of development agenda.
Official websites of some states haven't been updated for years
The Unique Identification Number scheme, which is expected to roll out the first number in 12-18 months, will be first conferred on the beneficiaries of the the centre's flagship programme under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
Shah also said the Census 2021 data will be collected through mobile app.
Right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.
'The last year's growth is a foretaste of things to come in the retail credit market.'
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