Census likely from early 2025

The government had prepared 31 questions to be asked to the citizens. REPRESENTATIVE PIC/iSTOCK

The much-delayed decadal census exercise and the work to update the National Population Register (NPR) are likely to begin early 2025 and the data will be declared by 2026, thus changing future census cycles completely, official sources said. However, no decision has been taken yet on whether caste census will also be carried out along with the general census.

The country's population count has been conducted every 10 years since 1951, but the census work in 2021 could not be carried out due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So far, no formal announcement has been made on its next schedule. "In all probability, the work for the census and the NPR will begin early next year and the population data will be announced by 2026. With this, the census cycle is likely to be changed. So, it will be 2025-2035 and then 2035-2045 and so on in future," sources privy to the thinking of the government said.

The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner had prepared 31 questions to be asked to the citizens during the census exercise. These questions include whether the head of the household belongs to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe and other family members as asked in the previous census. Opposition Congress and the RJD are among the political parties which have been demanding a caste census so that the total OBC population in the country is known. "The government has not yet taken any decision on caste census," a source said. The last census in India was conducted in 2011.

Congress seeks all-party meet

The Congress party has sought an all-party meeting to get clarity on whether the next census would include a detailed enumeration of all castes and whether the census will be used for determining the strength of each state in the Lok Sabha. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the extension of the tenure of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner has been notified and it means that the long-delayed census that was due in 2021 will finally be conducted soon.

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