- India is projected to become the world’s most populous country with over 1.4 billion people.
- India’s once in a decade census, due in 2021 and delayed due to the pandemic.
- The United Nations has projected India’s population could touch 1,425,775,850 on April 14, overtaking China on that day.
- India’s census is conducted by about 330,000 government school teachers who first go door-to-door listing all houses across the country.
In two months, India is projected to become the world’s most populous country with over 1.4 billion people. India’s once in a decade census, due in 2021 was delayed due to the pandemic, has now got bogged down by technical and logistical hurdles and there are no signs the mammoth exercise is likely to begin soon.
Experts say the delay in updating data like employment, housing, literacy levels, migration patterns and infant mortality, which are captured by the census, affects social and economic planning and policy making in the huge Asian economy.
Calling census data “indispensable”, a fellow at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, said studies like the consumption expenditure survey and the periodic labour force survey are estimations based on information from the census. “In the absence of latest census data, the estimations are based on data that is one decade old and are likely to provide estimates that are far from reality,” the fellow said.
A senior official at the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said census data from 2011, when the count was last conducted, was being used for projections and estimates required to assess government spending.
A spokesman for the ministry said its role was limited to providing the best possible projections and could not comment on the census process. The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
The United Nations has projected India’s population could touch 1,425,775,850 on April 14, overtaking China on that day. The 2011 census had put India’s population at 1.21 billion, meaning the country has added 210 million, or almost the number of people in Brazil, to its population in 12 years.
India’s census is conducted by about 330,000 government school teachers who first go door-to-door listing all houses across the country and then return to them with a second list of questions. They ask more than two dozen questions each time in 16 languages in the two phases that will be spread over 11 months, according to the plan made for 2021
