Why is Census important?
In India, a census is conducted every decade and Census 2021 will be the 16th national census of the country.
The term census is derived from the latin term ‘censere,’ which means to assess. Population censuses, typically with a semi-decadal (five-year) or decadal frequency are recognised as indispensable to national resource planning. In India, a census is conducted every decade and Census 2021 will be the 16th national census of the country. However, owing to Covid-19 pandemic, we are midway into 2021 and there is no sign of the census. As the census shapes political structures, economic decisions, development goals, delaying it will have its costs.
Background and Importance
In 1858, the Government of India Act 1858 was passed in the British parliament, the company was liquidated, and its authorities were transferred to the British Crown. By this time, the British Crown had taken near-absolute control of India.
Intention: In order to administer the dominion, the British government needed detailed, reliable data on the people and where they lived. They sought to conduct census in India, as they had been doing it at home since 1801.
Importance: India is recognised for its ‘unity in diversity’ and the census gives the citizens a chance to study this diversity and associated facets of their nation through its society, demography, economics, anthropology, sociology, statistics, etc.
Why Census 2021 is important?
Delimitation Exercise: The political balance in the Lok Sabha is about to transform when the next delimitation exercise concludes in 2026.
If census 2021 doesn’t happen, the States with the poorest record of population management will increase their relative presence massively while others will be disadvantaged. Thus, there is a need for a wider palette of demographic variables to inform the exercise.
Distribution of Proceeds: Finance commissions provide guidance on the distribution of tax revenues between the Union and the States.
Investments: There are talks of large-scale investments in infrastructure to restart the economic cycle in post Covid-19 period. The census helps target the investments, by giving planners a sense of who benefits, how much, and at what cost.
Solution in sight
Hence, given the importance of census, the decadal exercise of 2021 must be conducted keeping in the mind the following measures:
Strengthening the Data Quality: This can be done by minimising the coverage error and content error (through increased list of questions in the survey).
Strengthening the System: Proper training of enumerators (data collectors) and organisers should be organised. Also, enumerators should be well paid to keep them motivated, as they are the focal point of data collection and ensuring data accuracy.
Strengthening the Campaigns: Launching massive publicity campaigns in order to make people aware about the importance of census.
Highlights of Census 2011
- Total population of India has reached to 121 crores.
- It comprises 62.31 crores males and 58.74 crores females.
- Density of population per sq km has been 382 persons.
- Sex ratio for females per 1000 males is 943 females.
- Child sex ratio for females is 919 per 1000 males.
- Literacy rate of India has gone up to 73.0 per cent from 64.83 per cent.
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