Govt to dovetail-preparation of NPR with 2011 Census

New Delhi, Apr 24 (UNI) Home Minister Shivraj Patil today emphasised the need of using technology for data collection in census and said the Government is contemplating dovetailing the National Population Register with the 2011 Census besides adding photograph and finger biometrics to it.

Inaugurating the two-day Data Users Conference for the 2011 Census organised by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commission, the Home Minister said the creation of NPR might usher in the era of Register-based census in the country. It would help in future to have the estimates of population on a real time basis by combining it with the system ofregistration of births and deaths in the country.

He said after the successful completion of the Pilot Project on Identity Card, the Government is contemplating to dovetail the preparation of NPR with the 2011 Census. The data in NPR will have specified characteristics of each individual and even photographs and finger biometrics will be added subsequent to the census.

Pointing out that the population of India is expected to reach 1.20 billion by 2011, he said the difficult areas and difficult populations should be identified in advance so that no person in any household is left unrecorded and no area is left untouched. He said a Committee has been set up under the Chairmanship of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India to look at the provisions of the India Census Act, 1948 and consider providing for supervision by independent observers, wherever deemed essential.

The Minister emphasized the need to use technology at every possible stage of the census planning and census taking. He said a number of new technologies have emerged and matured over the past decade. The results of the 2001 census were released in less than five years as against eight years in the 1991 Census, he said, adding the endeavour of census organisation should be to complete the release of the 2011 data within 2-3 years from the date of completion of census.

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