Decadal Census Likely From Next Year
New Delhi: The Union Government will begin its decadal census likely next year marking the beginning of a mammoth exercise that continued uninterrupted since 1872. The country’s population count was conducted every 10 years since 1951, but the census work in 2021 could not be carried out due to the pandemic.
However, no formal announcement has been made on its next schedule so far. Last week, the Centre extended the tenure of Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, till August 2026. His term was to end in December this year. Till now, the population census has counted the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes separately but not the Other Backward Classes. It has also taken note of each Indian’s religion.
There are suggestions, for instance, about adding the OBC category to the existing counts of SCs, STs and religions, and also about surveying sub-categories within the general, SC and ST categories. According to official sources, a delimitation of Lok Sabha seats would start once the census is over, and would likely be completed by 2028, ahead of the next general election that will be due in 2029. Notably, several Opposition parties led by Congress have demanded a nationwide caste census, primarily so that the volume of reservations can be revised on the basis of its findings.
Some BJP allies, such as the Janata Dal United and the Lok Janshakti Party, have backed the demand.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday urged the Centre to convene an all-party meeting to clarify matters relating to the caste census demand and the proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha seats. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had last year did not rule out the possibility of the government accepting the demand for a caste census. But had said that the decision would be made public when the Centre announces the next population census.