Census likely to begin early next year, conclude by 2026

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday granted a two-year extension to Census Commissioner and Registrar General of India (RGI) Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan. The development is likely to pave the way for the much-delayed Census exercise.Narayan, a 1995-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, was to demit office on December 6. A notification of the Ministry of Home Affairs said Narayan would be in office till August 4, 2026, or until further orders, whichever was earlier. He would be headquartered in New Delhi, the notification said.One question on SC/ST categories One of the 31 questions drafted for the Census relates to households hailing from the SC/ST categoriesBut no decision has been taken yet on whether a caste census will also be carried outCongress posers to govtCongress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday asked the Centre, “Will caste Census be held? Will Census data be used for delimitation to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies across states?”The extension signals that the Census would get underway soon. It was to be held in 2021, but was delayed due to Covid. Recently, Home Minister Amit Shah had also said the exercise would start soon.Top MHA sources said the exercise was expected to start early next year, followed by the publication of data by 2026. While one of the 31 questions drafted by the office of the RGI for the Census relates to whether the head of the household and other family members hail from the Scheduled Caste or the Scheduled Tribe category, there is no question yet on the enumeration of other castes or the caste census.INDIA bloc parties, led by the Congress, have been pressing for the enumeration of all castes, including Other Backward Classes, an exercise last done in 1931.With the prospects of a Census exercise commencing any time now, the Congress on Monday posed two questions to the government. “Will this new Census include a detailed enumeration of all castes in addition to that of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes that has been done in every Census since 1951? According to the Constitution, such a Caste Census is the sole responsibility of the Centre,” said Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.He also asked whether the Census would be used for determining the strength of each state in the Lok Sabha as provided for in Article 82 of the Constitution, which says, “Until the relevant figures for the first Census taken after 2026 have been published, it shall not be necessary to readjust the allocation of seats in the House of the people to the states as readjusted on the basis of the 1971 census.”Official sources said if the Census exercise was held in 2025 and statistics published in 2026, a delimitation exercise on the basis of that data could not be held as per Article 82. If at all a delimitation has to be done, it would require an amendment to this article. Southern states have been fearing loss of Lok Sabha seats after the next delimitation exercise whereas northern states like UP and MP tend to gain.

Census likely to begin early next year, conclude by 2026

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service