Modi govt's caste survey announcement in already delayed population census gives no timeline

New Delhi: The Modi government may have announced caste enumeration along with the decadal census but it has not provided the contours or timeline for conducting the already delayed exercise, raising questions as to when the final outcome will be known to people.

The decadal census was to be conducted in 2021 but was postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic and the government has not announced a fresh schedule for the exercise. A smaller budgetary allocation in 2025-26 has already triggered speculation about a further delay in carrying out the exercise.

With the latest decision, the scope of the decadal census has also been enlarged and it is to be seen what all will have to be added to the questionnaire. So far, training of enumerators has also not been held.

The census exercise is held in two phases, the first being the house-listing and the second being the actual collection of data of citizens.

While Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier announced that the census will be held this year, officials indicated that this may be further delayed.

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.

However, the Budget 2025-26, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 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.

In its report on Demands for Grants (2025-26) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs said availability of funds should not be a factor for census related work and other operations. The entire census and National Population Register (NPR) exercise is expected to cost the government more than Rs 12,000 crore, officials said.

The MHA told the panel that 2024-25 allocation was reduced as census was not declared and due to this, the budget estimates for 2025-26, “for the time being”, has been kept at Rs 574.80 crore “considering the expected liabilities” for various activities.

The Ministry had informed the committee that many of the Census related preparatory activities have been completed and technological updation is in progress.