Need for a Timely Population Census in India

Table of Contents

Context: The Indian decadal Census has been delayed by over 3 years.

The Need for a Timely Census

Comprehensive Data: The Census provides more than just a population count; it includes locational, familial, and individual information.
The past decade and a half have seen potential transformations in population count and composition and in areas like education, occupation, employment, health (including COVID-19), and livelihoods.
- Delaying the Census is seen as irresponsible given the need to examine these changes.
There is a push for a caste Census for political reasons, overshadowing the broader utility of a general Census for development planning.
- Missing the 2021 Census is unjustifiable, especially since a general election was conducted amidst uncertainties, indicating that the required machinery is comparable.

Evaluating Government Schemes: Without a proper denominator from the Census, evaluating the success of government programs is misleading.
- The urgency for a Census is tied to understanding rapid demographic transitions and demographic dividends.
Reliability of Surveys: Surveys without a recent Census frame are less reliable and representative, affecting the generation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators.
- Progress in SDGs based on these indicators may be questionable due to statistical inadequacies.
Global Significance: Accurate demographic data is crucial for population giants like India and China, influencing global population trends.
- The Census provides real data rather than estimates based on past trends.

Political Motivations: The call for a caste Census is seen as politically motivated, aimed at establishing differential entitlements rather than genuine inclusion.
- Historically, caste auditing was discontinued for valid reasons, and its revival is questioned.
Assessment of Deprivation: Assessing deprivation through tangible endowments alone is limited.
- There is a lack of systematic assessment of mobility in education and occupation against caste despite long-term affirmative actions.

Call for Immediate Census: The delay or avoidance of the Census benefits the state by allowing claims of progress without accurate denominators.

The scientific community should advocate for the immediate need for a Census to dispel the illusion that surveys and administrative statistics can replace it.
The key concern remains whether the Census has been delayed or deliberately avoided.