Union Budget 2025 | Census, NPR unlikely in 2025 too as only Rs 574 crore allocated in budget

The census operation continues to be on hold and the government has not yet announced the new schedule.

New Delhi: The decadal census and updating National Population Register (NPR) got a meagre Rs 574.80 crore allocation in the Union Budget on Saturday, triggering speculation that the much awaited exercise may be further delayed.

The Census was to be held in 2021 but was postponed owing to Covid-19 pandemic. Home Minister Amit Shah had also last year said that the Census exercise would be conducted this year.

The Budget 2025-26, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, allocated Rs 574.80 crore for Census, Surveys and Statistics/Registrar General of India (RGI), as against an allocation of Rs 1,309.46 crore in 2024-25, which was revised to Rs 572 crore.

The entire Census and NPR exercise is expected to cost the government more than Rs 12,000 crore and Opposition leaders say the allocation is less.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said it was "highly disappointing" that the budget made no mention of releasing funds for the decadal Population Census that was supposed to have taken place in 2021, but has still not been conducted.

"This is the first time since Independence that the Government has failed to conduct a Census on time. The consequences on the State's administrative capabilities are serious — one example being the 10-12 crore individuals who have been excluded from the ambit of the National Food Security Act and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. It also means that the Government will most certainly continue to avoid a Socio-Economic Caste Census," he said.

On less allocation for Census, senior RJD MP Manoj K Jha said it is "unprecedented and now this looks scary".

"No government in India so far has done it. In fact we have very few examples from other countries as well. Can't make what stops the government in going ahead. Are they scared about the fact that if census is announced, political parties like us would raise peoples' demand for caste census as well. We urgently need a white paper on this," he told DH.

The new Census would be the first digital census giving the citizens an opportunity to self-enumerate.

The Union Cabinet on December 24, 2019 had approved the proposal for conducting census of India 2021 at a cost of Rs 8,754.23 crore and updating the National Population Register (NPR) at Rs 3,941.35 crore.

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