The Modi government has started preparations for the decennial census. However, no decision has been taken yet to include a caste-related ‘column’ in this process. According to the information, the decennial census will be conducted soon.Census is conducted every year in the country since 1881. The first census phase was scheduled to begin on April 1, 2020 but had to be postponed due to the Corona epidemic. It is very important for the government to conduct census now because many new laws and acts of the government are connected with it.
The passage of the Women’s Reservation Act by Parliament last year is also linked to the decennial census. The law relating to reservation of one-third seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies shall come into force after the commencement of the delimitation process based on the relevant data of the first census to be held after the commencement of this Act. In the absence of new data, government agencies are still relying on the 2011 census figures. They are making policies and allocating subsidies based on that. The phase of enumeration of households under the first census and updating of the National Population Register (NPR) was scheduled to take place from April 1 to September 30, 2020 but was postponed due to Corona.
The work of NPR will be completed by:
Officials said the entire census and NPR process could cost the government more than Rs 12,000 crore. This time there will be a digital census. During this Aadhaar or mobile number will definitely be collected. This census government will also be able to complete the work of National Census Register (NPR). The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by PM Modi can implement the policy of One Nation, One Election in its current tenure. The government is optimistic about this policy. The One Nation, One Election process is gathering momentum after a report was presented by a panel chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind earlier this year. The panel presented its report to President Draupadi Murmu and strongly supported the concept of simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
