Explainer: How did the Census evolve over the years?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 30, 2019
As we get
closer to the data collection exercise for the Census 2021, here is a look at the evolution of the Census exercise.
On 23 September 2019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that the 2021 census would be conducted digitally replacing the traditional pen and paper. This will be the first Census of India that will be conducted digitally.
But what is Census? Why is it conducted? How has the Census exercise evolved over the years? In this story, we explain some of these.
Census 2021
would be the 16th decennial census being conducted
The Decennial populationcensus is conducted every 10 years. The population census activity includes theprocess of collecting, compiling, analyzing and disseminating the datacollected. The data collected during the census exercise is of demographic,socio-cultural and economic in nature. This information is critical forplanning, analysis, policy formulation and other aspects where data plays acrucial role. The census data forms a very important baseline for trackingprogress, planning relevant policy interventions.
The firstcensus activity in India was initiated in 1865 for the 1872 census by the thenBritish Government. Post-Independence, the Census Act,
1948 was passed which lays the guidelines and procedures to conduct thecensus. The first census for Post-Independent India was in the year 1951.
The conduct andanalysis of the Census in India is done by ‘Office of Registrar General
and Census Commissioner’ under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs. TheMinistry of Home Affairs has released a notification in March 2019 inregard to the conduct of 2021 Census. This is in lines with Section 3 of the CensusAct 1948.
As per thenotification released by the government, the next census of India would be carriedout with 01 March 2021 as the reference date. In the case of snow bound statesof Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date wouldbe 01 October 2020.
The Census Questionnaire
evolved in view of changing requirements
The populationcensus activity holds the unique distinction of being conducted every 10 yearswithout any interruption. However, the type of information being collected inthe census has changed over a period of time. The Census
questionnaire is an important tool which the enumerators use to collect theinformation. The questionnaire used for 1872 census consisted of 17 questions.
One of thechallenges during the first three censuses (1872, 1881, 1891), was the lack ofdesignated house numbers, which was overcome by the time of 1901 census, makingit more systematic to collect the data.
The inclusionof ‘Caste’ was a unique to India compared to the census activity conducted inthe other British colonies. The first census conducted post-independence (the1951 Census) had 13 questions for collection of information including: Name,relationship, birthplace, sex, age, economic status, means of livelihood,religion, mother tongue, literacy etc. In context of partition, ‘Displaced persons’ was an unique additionlimited to this census.
In the nextcensus i.e. 1961, two separate
schedules i.e. ‘Household schedule’ and ‘Individual Slip’ were used instead ofonly ‘Individual slips’ used in the previous census. With this census, thequestion regarding place of birth was further expanded to include – ‘Rural’ or‘Urban’. The 1961 census also made provision for explicit enumeration of‘SC/ST’ category.
The 1971 censusincluded 17 questions, with new inclusions being:
In 1981 census,the household schedule also included collection of information with respect toamenities available in a household – drinking water, electricity, toiletfacility etc. along with information such as the nature of housing i.e. theconstruction materials used for wall, roof, floor etc.
The 2001 censusmarked a shift in technology with the introduction of Intelligent CharacterReading (ICR), which enabled high speed scanning of the manual writtenschedules and converting the information into digitized form. The questionnaireschedule comprised of 23 questions and included new questions like:
For the first time, taking the signature or thumb impression of therespondent was included in the census.
The number of questions increased in the 2011 census, which had 29questions. Some of the highlights from 2011 census include:
2011 census also attempted at gatheringinformation on castes. The earlier census had provision only for the inclusionof SC/ST as part of information gathering. A socio-economic Caste Census was also conducted in 2011.  This enumeration was based on the respondentsdeclaring their own caste which has led to the creation of thousands ofcaste/sub caste categories. In view of this, the government is consideringhaving a list of OBCs notified by each state to be used for enumeration for2021 census.
The number of questions has increased since the time of the firstcensus post-independence to include new information as part of the census activity.From 14 questions in 1951, the number has increased to 29 in the 2011 census.
2021 Census – A step towards Digitization
As stated earlier, the 2021 census would bethe first census in India where the enumeration would be done digitally. Amobile application would be used by the enumerators to collect the data. As per Registrar General of India , Vivek Joshi , collecting the information digitally wouldhelp in having the results almost immediately, unlike earlier where it used totake multiple years for the data to be analyzed and the reports published.
The Office of Registrar General and CensusCommissioner of India has multiple divisions which are involved in the whole censusexercise.
The comprehensive questionnaire to be usedfor the 2021 census isn’t available yet. However, this is one step amongst abroad spectrum of activities which takes place for Census 2021.
Approximately 33 lakh teachers would take onthe responsibility of enumerators. The mobile application would be installed onthe phones of the enumerators.
The Census exercise would be conducted in tworounds as noted below.
As highlighted earlier, Jammu & Kashmir,Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are exceptions for whom the enumeration wouldbe conducted earlier with reference date as 01 October 2020. A revision roundof enumeration would be done in March, for those who might have initiallymissed out.
A pre-test Census is carried out between 12 August2019 and  30 September 2019 with a samplesize of 50 lakh respondents across the states and UTs. Aquestionnaire with 28 questions has been developed for the pre-test.
The move towards digital mode of collecting thedata is a step forward to speed-up the process of analysis and release ofreports, which would make the census data more relevant. However, security ofthe data being collected (especially with the application being installed onthe mobile devices of enumerators) and adequate backup mechanism for the datahas to be looked into.