Census data needs to be verified and accurate so that it can be used effectively to formulate welfare policies.
The first census of India was conducted in 1881 and has been conducted every decade since then. The last census was held in 2011.
It is one of the largest data collection exercises in the world. it will happen India’s first digital census. Citizens will have the option of self-enumeration by filling the census form digitally.
They are expected to do this through a special mobile app developed by the Registrar General Office of India in 16 different Indian languages. This eliminates the need for enumerators, saving the government time and money.
However, questions are being raised about the switch to the digital option, especially the only one Half of the 1.4 billion Indian people have access to smartphones.
According to Usha Ramanathan, an independent legal researcher: “Even when filing income tax, which is supposed to be easy, many people still have to use a chartered accountant.
“So, take, for example, the COVID-19 vaccine registration platform Cowin. Other technical solutions The flawed government portal needed to be supported but the fact that you can request to change name, year of birth and gender shows the level of error they are looking at.
Furthermore, reports suggest that women are Men are half as likely to have access to the internetThe participation of women in the exercise was questioned.
There is also a suspicion that Potential privacy violations. There have been many data breaches in the past where the private data of millions of Indians has been put up for sale on the dark web.
There are suggestions Before making the census public, the government should conduct a pilot survey, where the app will be tested and any issues resolved to achieve the desired accuracy and precision.
Inexplicable delay
Notably, the delay in the census exercise has raised questions about the government’s intentions. Even after the end of the epidemic, there has been an unimaginable delay in starting the census exercise.
Distribution of government welfare schemes depends on census data for effectiveness. As the latest demographics are not available, this can put vulnerable communities at risk of being left out. This should have prompted the government to start the census exercise post haste.
The demarcation of administrative units should be frozen before the census exercise. However, it has been delayed due to this “technical reason”.
Some scholars attributed this delay to National Population Register (NPR) exercise which was the first step towards preparing the controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC).
There is concern that NPR may exclude specific marginalized communities. Experts believe that NPR has a political agenda and can be used as a disempowering tool Disenfranchise certain communities such as Muslims in India.
Another reason for delay is a Ethnic census from different groupswho will provide Statistics of social and economic status of various communities.
Experts claim that the government does not want to conduct a caste census. This is evident from the Central Government’s reply to the Maharashtra State Government’s petition regarding collection of data on Backward Classes of Citizens (BCC).
The Union Government has claimed that it will “Administratively difficult and cumbersome”.
As many states want to conduct a caste census, there has been a tussle between the Union and state governments over the issue, leading to significant delays in conducting the general census.
Why is census data needed?
It has been badly affected by the delay Development Planning in India. The country’s development indicators are based on census data and due to non-availability of data, the indicators may be inaccurate.
Non-availability of accurate data can also lead to unbalanced allocation of resources from the Center to the states. This has affected the implementation of various schemes of the government and some communities and individuals have accused it of being neglected while formulating the scheme. Such as the National Food Security Act, 2013, and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.
Some states are accused of being under-represented in this year’s general elections due to the lack of recent census data.
India’s population has grown significantly since 2011, but the process of delimitation of parliamentary and state legislative constituencies has not been completed. This is why many states claim to have seen significant gains in population Underrepresentation in the current Lok Sabha.
Moreover, it has recently been implemented Women’s Reservation ActOne-third of the seats in Parliament and Provincial Assemblies will be effective only after demarcation of constituencies.
There is also concern about the government’s claim of transparency in the survey methodology and the effective collection of data.He dissolved the Standing Committee on Statistics and later replaced it with the Steering Committee for the National Sample Survey..
Some critics claim Steering Committee can be easily influenced by the government which can negatively affect the integrity of the census practice.
Given the rapidly transforming nature of India’s social, economic and political governance and the impact this census will have on government policies in the years to come, it is important to do so with utmost care and caution.
The government can mitigate the concerns of citizens and critics by ensuring that census data is verifiable, accurate and can be effectively used for the welfare policies and schemes the government seeks to implement.
Deepanshu Mohan OP is Professor and Dean of Economics at Jindal Global University. He is visiting professor at the London School of Economics and Oxford University.
Najam that Shakib Doctoral student at Central University, Kashmir and Research Analyst at Center for New Economics Studies, OP Jindal Global University.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360 information™.