Census improbable in 2020

Indian census which is considered to be the largest administrative and statistical exercise in the world seems improbable this year. This year the first phase of the census to update the National Population Register (NPR) was scheduled which got postponed due to current COVID-19 outbreak.

Indian Census in brief

The Indian Census is decennial in nature, meaning its an event which re-occurs every ten years. It was introduced in 1872 by British Viceroy Lord Mayo since then it has been conducted 15 times as of 2011. The first complete census was taken in the year 1881 which was conducted by the British authority. Post-independence Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India conducts the census decennially. All the censuses since 1951 are being conducted under the 1948 Census of India Act.

National Population Register (NPR)

NPR abbreviated form of National Population Register is a register of the usual residents of a country. The register contains all the details about the individual which is collected at local (village/sub-town), subdistrict, district, state and national level under Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship Rules, 2003. The first data for NPR was collected in the year 2010 and again in 2015 when it was linked with Aadhar database.

NPR vs Census

The data collection process for NPR and Census will begin at the same time however, both the two databases are not the same. Census collects more detailed information of the citizen to gauze the country’s progress in the past decade. It helps in monitoring the government’s ongoing schemes and also helps the authority plan for the future. Whereas, NPR only contains demographic information.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2020