With new date to fix boundaries, Census unlikely before polls

Subject :Polity

Section: msc

Concept :

The deadline to freeze the administrative boundaries of districts, tehsils and towns, among others, has been extended till December 31, ruling out the Census exercise before the 2024 General Elections.
The decennial Census exercise that was to be conducted in 2021 was postponed indefinitely, initially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest order does not specify any reason.

About Census

Population Census is the total process of collecting, compiling, analyzing and disseminating demographic, economic and social data pertaining, at a specific time, of all persons in a country or a well-defined part of a country.
Census is the basis for reviewing the country’s progress in the past decade, monitoring the ongoing schemes of the government and plan for the future.
It provides an instantaneous photographic picture of a community, which is valid at a particular moment of time.

Phases: The Census Operations in India are carried out in two phases:

Houselisting/Housing Census under which details of all buildings, permanent or temporary, are noted with their type, amenities, and assets.
Population Enumeration where more detailed information on each individual residing in the country, Indian national or otherwise is noted.
It is carried out after making a list of all households that are surveyed.

Frequency:

The first synchronous decadal census was taken in 1881, by W.C. Plowden, Census Commissioner of India. Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every ten years.
The Census of India Act of 1948 provides the legal framework for carrying out the Census however, it does not mention its timing or periodicity.
Hence, a Census is Constitutionally mandated in India but there is no Constitutional or legal requirement that it needs to be conducted decennially.
The 10-year frequency is followed in many countries (Ex. the US and the UK) but some countries like Australia, Canada, Japan conduct it every five years.

Nodal Ministry:

The decennial Census is conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Until 1951, the Census Organization was set up on an ad-hoc basis for each Census.