2021 census of India

16th census of India
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General information
CountryIndia
AuthorityMinistry of Home Affairs
Websitecensusindia.gov.in

The 2021 census of India, or the 16th Indian census, is to be conducted in two phases, a house listing phase and a population enumeration phase. Although initially the house listing was to begin in April 2020 along with the updating of the National Population Register, and the population enumeration on 9 February 2021,[1] they have been effectively postponed to after the 2024 general elections.[2] Initially the house listing was to be conducted between April and September 2020, with population enumeration in February 2021 and a revision round in March 2021. The reference date was to be 1 March 2021 in most of the states and 1 October 2020 for Jammu and Kashmir and some areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.[3][4] On 2 January 2023, Additional Registrar General of India communicated to all the states that the date of freezing of administrative boundaries had been extended till 30 June 2023.[5] The 16th census can only begin three months after the administrative boundaries have been frozen. The completion of the census in its two phases takes at least 11 months, so the possibility of the completion of this decennial census exercise in 2023 or early 2024 is ruled out, as general elections are due in April 2024.[6]

In September 2019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had stated that the 2021 national census would be done fully digitally through a mobile phone application,[7] and will be carried out in 16 languages.[8] In February 2021, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated ₹37.68 billion (US$450 million) for the census in the 2021 Union budget of India.[9] It was delayed to 2022[10] and then further delayed to 2023[11] due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India. Following the postponement of the deadline of freezing administrative boundaries to 30 June 2023, and owing to the general elections in 2024, the census can now only take place in late 2024.[12] This was confirmed in July 2023, when the Government of India extended the deadline to freeze the administrative boundaries to 1 January 2024, ruling out the census exercise before the 2024 Indian general election.[13][2] On 20 September 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed during the discussion on Women's Reservation Bill that census and the delimitation exercise will take place after the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.[14][15]

  1. ^ "Cabinet approves conduct of Census of India 2021 and updation of National Population Register". pmindia.gov.in. 24 December 2019. Archived from the original on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "With new date to fix boundaries, Census unlikely before 2024 Lok Sabha polls". The Hindu.
  3. ^ "Census 2021 will be done via mobile app, says officials". The New Indian Express. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  4. ^ "Next Census Of India Will Be Carried Out In 2021". NDTV.com. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  5. ^ Singh, Vijaita (5 January 2023). "Decennial census put off till September to freeze boundaries". The Hindu.
  6. ^ Munjal, Diksha (9 January 2023). "Explained | The delay in the decennial Census". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 9 January 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Digital Census In 2021; Amit Shah Proposes Idea Of Multipurpose ID Card". NDTV. 23 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Census 2021 to be conducted in 16 languages". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Budget 2021: Census to go digital for the first time with Rs 3,768 crore allocation". India Today. 1 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Government likely to postpone census to 2022". The Hindu. 11 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Deadline for freezing administrative boundaries extended, no Census this year". The Indian Express. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Census to be delayed again, deadline for freezing of boundaries extended to June 30". The Indian Express. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Census to be delayed again, deadline for freezing administrative boundaries pushed to January 1, 2024".
  14. ^ "Census, delimitation exercise after election: Amit Shah on women's quota bill".
  15. ^ "Census a must for women's reservation Bill to become reality". The Hindu.