Census should not be just data-oriented: House panel

What is the News?

The Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs has submitted its report on the Census Exercise.

What are the key highlights from the report?

The Census Exercise should not merely be data-oriented. But it should also portray the perspective of culture and society, as was done before Independence.

For this, an expert group should be set up by the Registrar General of India (RGI) to examine the census pattern since its commencement and suggest measures to bring qualitative change in the census exercise.

What is Census 2021?

Census 2021 is a two-phase exercise. It was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The first phase involves house listing, in which details of all buildings, permanent or temporary are taken with their type, amenities and assets.

The second phase known as Population Enumeration includes more detailed information on each individual residing in the country, Indian national or otherwise.

This census will be the first digital census where an enumerator would collect and submit data directly through a Mobile App using her or his smartphone. The provision of a paper schedule is also kept in case of connectivity issues.

Source: This post is based on the article “Census should not be just data-oriented: House panel” published in The Hindu on 15th Mar 2022.