Parl panel urges govt to complete census ‘at earliest’

The parliamentary committee on home affairs asked the Centre to complete the census “at the earliest” even as the Union home ministry informed it that preparatory activities for the decadal exercise have been completed.

The recommendation was made by a department related parliamentary standing committee on home affairs or MHA, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, in its latest report tabled in the Parliament on Monday.

“The committee recommends that the Census may be completed at the earliest,” the report stated.

While clarifying the reasons for reduced allocation from ₹1,309 crore in 2024-25 to ₹574 crore in 2025-26 for the Census, the home ministry informed the committee that “many of the Census related preparatory activities have been completed and technological updation is in progress.”

“Therefore, as and when Census exercise will be undertaken, additional funds will be sought as per the year-wise requirement,” the ministry told the committee, according to the report.

The ministry further informed that the proposed expenditure for FY 2025-26 encompasses various activities aimed at continuing preparatory work for the Census and NPR (National Population Register), including technological updates.

“It covers the salaries and allowances for officers and officials involved in Census, NPR Civil Registration System (CRS), Sample Registration System (SRS), geospatial mapping, IT and language departments. Additionally, the expenditure will be directed towards the operation and maintenance of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) data centre and security measures for the NRC in Assam,” the MHA said.

The ministry asserted that significant progress was made in the development of geospatial databases for the Census, including the harmonisation of administrative boundaries in collaboration with the Survey of India and the creation of a centralised Census mapping portal for data management.

“The National Data Centre and Disaster Recovery sites were also operationalized to support data storage and disaster management. Further, the Civil Registration Systems (CRS) saw updates with the amendment of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, and the launch of a revamped CRS portal to facilitate online registration and issuance of birth and death certificates in 24 states/UTs. For the Sample Registration System (SRS), activities included the automation of data collection and processing, the conduct of part-time enumerator training and the deployment of role-based user access for data security,” the ministry said.

“The development of an improved web portal for monitoring fieldwork and data aggregation in real-time also contributed to the efficiency of these systems,” it added.

The committee noted the progress made in the preparatory work for the Census and NPR. It also appreciated “the timely implementation of the amended Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 and the successful launch of the revamped CRS portal in multiple States/UTs”, which it said, “will improve accessibility and efficiency in birth and death registrations”.

The committee recommended that MHA may “explore and leverage additional existing digital platforms and tools, such as mobile phone connections, Aadhaar and other government databases for real-time data collection”.

“Further, linking the data collected through these digital channels with the Aadhaar database can provide additional verification layers, ensuring data integrity and reducing the need for manual crosschecking,” the report added.

Originally, the Centre had decided in 2019 to carry out Census 2021, for which it approved at a budget of ₹8,754.23 crore and for updating the NPR, a budget of ₹3,941.35 crore. This means that the entire exercise is likely to cost around ₹12,000 crore.

The exercise was to begin in 2020. However, the government has maintained that the Census has been delayed due to Covid-19.