Census, NPR exercises may be further delayed
New Delhi, Aug 31: The first phase of the Census and the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR), scheduled for this year but deferred due to the coronavirus outbreak, may be delayed by a year as there is no sign of slowdown of the pandemic.
The Indian census is one of the largest administrative and statistical exercises in the world, with the involvement of more than 30 lakh officials who would visit each household across the length and breadth of the country.
"Census is not an essential exercise for now. Even if it is delayed by a year, there would be no harm," a senior official said.
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The official said no final decision has been taken on when the first phase of the Census 2021 and NPR update would take place, but it is almost certain that it would not be held in 2020 due to the rising cases of the coronavirus.
The house-listing phase of the Census and the exercise to update NPR were scheduled to be carried out across the country from April 1 to September 30, 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
"As the entire exercise needs the involvement of lakhs of officials and visit to each family, we can't undermine the health risk involved in it," the official said.
With
a
record
single-day
spike
of
78,761
cases,
the
total
coronavirus
cases
in
India
rose
to
35,42,733,
while
the
death
toll
climbed
to
63,498
as
on
Sunday.
According
to
the
earlier
schedule,
the
census
would
have
its
reference
date
as
March
1,
2021,
and
in
the
snow-bound
areas
of
Jammu
and
Kashmir,
Himachal
Pradesh
and
Uttarakhand,
it
would
be
October
1,
2020.
"The COVID-19 threat is still looming large. The census and NPR are not in the priority list of the government as of now," another official said.
In March, when the coronavirus-induced lockdown was announced, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India was all set for the first phase of the census and updation of the NPR that was scheduled to begin from April 1.
Even though some state governments opposed the NPR update, all offered full support to the census exercise.
The
census
is
the
largest
single
source
of
a
variety
of
statistical
information
on
people
of
India
which
helps
the
State
to
chalk
out
various
policies.
With
a
history
of
more
than
130
years,
this
reliable,
time
tested
exercise
has
been
bringing
out
a
veritable
wealth
of
statistics
every
10
years,
including
on
the
rich
diversity
of
the
people,
and
has
become
one
of
the
tools
to
understand
and
study
India.
The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country. The database would contain demographic as well as biometric particulars.
The
NPR
is
a
register
of
the
usual
residents
of
the
country.
It
is
prepared
at
the
local
(village
and
sub-town),
subdistrict,
district,
state
and
national
levels
under
provisions
of
the
Citizenship
Act,
1955
and
the
Citizenship
(Registration
of
Citizens
and
Issue
of
National
Identity
Cards)
Rules,
2003.
The
data
for
NPR
was
last
collected
in
2010
along
with
the
house
listing
phase
of
the
Census
2011.
Updating
of
this
data
was
done
during
2015
by
conducting
a
door-to-door
survey.
While
updating
the
register
in
2015,
the
government
had
asked
details
like
Aadhaar
and
the
mobile
number
of
people.
This
time,
the
information
related
to
their
driving
licence
and
voter
ID
card
may
also
be
gathered,
the
officials
said.
Though information regarding the place of birth of parents will be sought, it is up to the residents whether to respond to the question as it is voluntary.
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For the NPR, a usual resident is defined as a person who has resided in a local area for the past six months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months.
The law compulsorily seeks to register every citizen of India and issue a national identity card.
The demographic details required for every usual resident are name, relationship to head of household, father's name, mother's name, spouse's name (if married), sex, date of birth, marital status, place of birth, nationality (as declared), present address of usual residence, duration of stay at present address, permanent residential address, occupation and educational qualification.