A day after announcing that the Population Census will be conducted in 2027 along with a nationwide caste enumeration, the Union Home Ministry on Thursday said the exercise was postponed after the Covid-19 pandemic because conducting it earlier could have “immensely disrupted primary education”.
On Wednesday, the government had said that data collection for the Census and caste enumeration would begin early next year, and would offer a snapshot of the country’s population as of March 1, 2027. The last Census, held in 2011, had March 1 that year as the reference date. The next decadal headcount was due in 2021 but was deferred due to the pandemic.
“All preparations for Census 2021 were complete. However, due to the Covid outbreak across the country, the Census work was postponed,” the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) spokesperson posted on X. “Covid disrupted all sectors, including education. Around 30 lakh enumerators are needed for the Census and most of them are primary school teachers. Conducting the Census post-Covid could have disrupted primary education immensely.”
The spokesperson said countries that conducted their censuses soon after the pandemic faced “issues on quality and coverage of Census data”.
The delay in the Census has triggered political reactions. Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday accused the Centre of deferring the exercise to reduce the state’s parliamentary representation. In a post on X, he said: “The Indian Constitution mandates that delimitation must follow the first Census after 2026. The has now delayed the Census to 2027, making their plan clear to reduce Tamil Nadu’s Parliamentary representation. I had warned about this. It is now unfolding… We need clear answers from the Union Government.”
Responding to this, the MHA spokesperson said: “The Honourable Home Minister has made it clear on several occasions that in the delimitation exercise, concerns of southern states will be taken care of and discussed with all concerned at the appropriate time.”
Reiterating the Centre’s commitment, the spokesperson said the Census process would now “commence forthwith” and conclude with March 1, 2027, as the reference date. “ has never been a constraint for conducting the Census, as allocation of funds is always ensured by the government,” the post added.
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