WHY IS THE CENSUS NECESSARY?

The census is essential to the functioning of a welfare state. Decisions regarding public welfare cannot

be taken without knowing how many people are likely to be benefited or otherwise affected. This data comes

from the census. Also, long term projects of all kinds need to know not only the present number of people

living in a place but also the kind of people who live there, their lifestyle, and the likely growth in population.

Such matters are part of the science of demography, and the answers to most demographic questions lie in

the study of census data. Censuses are taken at fixed intervals- usually ten years to the day, in some countries

once every five years- so that it becomes easier to measure rates of change overtime, for example the growth

rate of population, change in literacy rates, etc.

The functioning of a democracy is also dependent on the

census. This is because any legislative body is based on a

system of public representation. In India, the number of seats in

the Legislative Assemblies of the States and the number of seats

in Parliament, and the geographical extent of the respective

constituencies, is decided on the basis of the population

distribution as per the Census.

HOW THE CENSUS IS CARRIED OUT

The first modern census in India was conducted in 1872; the first comprehensive one, in 1881. Since

then, the Census of India has taken place very ten years in an unbroken chain. The last one took place in

2001, and the next one is to be taken in 2011which will be fifteenth in its continuous series.

The Census of India is a massive exercise, as is only to be expected with such a huge population and

large geographical diversities. It is conducted by enumerators – persons who do the work of counting – who

go from house to house over a period of three weeks in February. The reference date for the Census – that

is the date for which the population is counted – is 1st March of every census year. The enumerators visit every

house in the area assigned to them once more in the first week of March, to confirm that there is no change

in the number of people residing there since they has last visited. In 2011, about 2.5 million enumerators are

likely to be deployed!

To make sure that each and every house is covered, a prior exercise called Houselisting is carried out

several months before the actual population count in February. Houselisting for the 2011 Census has already

taken place all over the country in April-September, 2010. For this purpose also, enumerators visited house

to house, making a list of buildings in their assigned area, and drawing a map of the area too. During this

process, information regarding the buildings, such as their use (residential or non-residential),material

WHY IS THE CENSUS NECESSARY?

HOW THE CENSUS IS CARRIED OUT

A

For your information

the latest delimitation

of assembly constituencies

was based on the

Census-2001 figures

regarding the buildings, such as their use (residential or non-residential), material of construction, availability

of water, electricity and sanitation facilities, etc. is collected from the occupants. In 2010, some new questions

such as use of Computer, mobile phones etc. were also asked during Houselisting.

Thus, the data collected in the Houselisting operation gives a clear and detailed picture about housing

stock and availability of amenities.

During the exercise in February, which is called Population Enumeration, the enumerators ask many

more questions which directly reflect the lifestyle and quality of life of the people. Apart from the number of

persons residing in the household, their age and date of birth, there are questions on literacy and educational

qualifications, occupation, number of children born to mothers, mother tongue, disability, and migration. Each

of these questions addresses a planning concern for the Government.

The enumerators record the response from each household in a specially designed form. The respondent

is reassured that any individual person's information collected during the census is completely confidential by

law and his or her signature or thumbprint is taken on the form.

The forms are scanned and their information is processed by special software. The basic data is

tabulated and published within a few months, though detailed reports which require more processing take a

year or more to be published.