23 Sep 2022 A census is not about counting sheep
Source: The Hindu
News: There are chances that India may skip its decadal Census as the Central government still has not started the process of a periodical general census.
History of Census in India
- India conducted its first Census in 1872 in a non-synchronous way in different parts of the country.
- Thereafter, India has held its decadal censuses regularly from 1881 to 2011.
Importance of regular census:
- Regular census helped in abolition of slavery: Anti-slavery campaigners employed data from 1850 and 1860 census to build support for the abolition of slavery.
- Efficiency of census is more compared to sample survey: As census carries the promise of counting each and every individual.
- Census also helps in fixing data deficiencies related to age, gender, economic status, religion and languages spoken.
- Census provides pathways for planning and resolving problems as it helps the state to connect with each and every individual.
Impact of regular censuses in India:
- Censuses in India alerted policy makers by providing reliable numbers over time. Example: Censuses of 1961 and 1971 alerted Indians about pre and post-natal factors contributing to a sharp decline in the gender ratio in India.
- Indian census even before the emergence of Big Data provided clean inter-temporal comparability of India’s own performance.
- Census headcounts also slay bigotry and prejudices such as
- Differences in Total Fertility Rate (TFR) across India have to do with religion or caste instead of region and socio-economic indicators.
- The census 2011 also challenged the myth of divorce rate differentials (difference in rate of divorce in urban and rural India).The urban divorce rate (0.89%) is almost equal to the rural rate (0.82%).
- Census is key to the formation and affirmation of different identities such as caste, religion, ethnic etc.
Issues associated with census:
- Linking of the Census with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) made large sections of the citizens insecure about their ability to provide the right paperwork.
- Central government conducted socio-economic and caste census in 2011 after the last general census, but it did not finalize and publish the caste data.
- Dysfunction and inability of State to hold latest general census: Due to COVID-19 state postponed the general census of 2021 , but it still has not initiated the process.
- Asymmetrical relationship between government and citizen: Government is mining the data of citizens without census through various acts and regulations such as Criminal Procedure (Identification) Rules, 2022 , linking electoral rolls with Aadhaar etc.
Conclusion: Government is relentlessly collecting data through other means skipping the census, which may prove detrimental for the citizens as well as the government. Census done through census enumerator creates a sense of comradeship between citizens.
Article: The Hindu: A census is not about counting sheep(Seema Chisti)
Article Links: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/a-census-is-not-about-counting-sheep/article65923640.ece
Yojna IAS Daily Current Affairs eng med 23rd Sep
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