The Narendra Modi-led government is set to begin the long-delayed Population Census in 2025, with a target for completion by 2026. This will be followed by a nationwide delimitation process for Lok Sabha constituencies, expected to be finished by 2028. However, no decision has been taken yet on whether Caste Census will also be carried out along with the general Census. 

This development comes amid demands from several Opposition parties for a Caste Census. However, the government has not yet made a decision, and the details of the Census process are yet to be made public. The upcoming Census round is expected to include the usual surveys on religion and social class, along with counts of General, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes.

According to sources aware of the details, the Government has not yet taken any decision on the Caste Census. The process of tabulating the country’s population will begin in 2025 and is expected to conclude by 2026, following which the process of carving out constituencies for the Lok Sabha through delimitation will begin.

The last Census was conducted in 2011, and the following round was initially planned for 2021 but was postponed due to the second wave of COVID-19.The Census cycle is now set to follow a 10-year pattern, running from 2025 to 2035 and later from 2035 to 2045.

The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner had prepared 31 questions to be asked to the citizens during the Census exercise. These questions include whether the head of the household belongs to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe and other family members as asked in the previous Census.

"In all probability, the work for the Census and the NPR will begin early next year and the population data will be announced by 2026. With this, the Census cycle is likely to be changed. So, it will be 2025-2035 and then 2035-2045 and so on in future," said sources adding all these factors will have to be looked into before any decision is taken on delimitation.

The 31 questions to be asked to each family under the Census exercise include the total number of persons normally residing in the household, whether the head of the household is a woman, the number of dwelling rooms exclusively in possession of the household, the number of married couple(s) living in the household among others. The questions also include whether a family has a telephone, internet connection, mobile or smartphone, bicycle, scooter or motorcycle or moped, and whether they own a car, jeep or a van.

The citizens will also be asked what is the cereal they consume in the household, the main source of drinking water, main source of lighting, access to latrine, type of latrine, waste water outlet, availability of bathing facility, availability of kitchen and LPG/PNG connection, main fuel used for cooking, availability of radio, transistor, television etc.

The Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and several other parties have been demanding that a Caste Census be undertaken. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP’s) alliance partners such as Janata Dal United (JDU) in Bihar have also spoken about the same, but have not put any pressure on the Centre. At the central level, the final decision has been left to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet.

The BJP’s other ally, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), too is of the opinion that the Census must happen, with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu actively advocating for ‘Skill Census’ for the benefit of the masses, especially the young population.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) too is in favour of Caste Census so long as it’s not being done for gaining political mileage by any party. Many states in the South, especially Tamil Nadu, have followed a strict population policy and therefore, the government is also considering a proposal to see that no unfair treatment is meted out to them via the delimitation process.

The Census of India is recorded every decade, with the first one being held in 1872. The first Census post-Independence was recorded in 1951 and the last one in 2011. According to the 2011 data, India’s population stands at 121.1 crore of which 52 per cent are males and 48 per cent are females. It was during this Census that the transgender numbers were taken into account for the first time in India’s history.

In the 2011 Census, 31.2% of the population lived in urban areas (377.1 million or 37.71 crore), and 68.8% resided in rural areas (833.8 million or 83.38 crore). Additionally, 453.6 million (45.36 crore) people, or 37.8% of the total population, were classified as migrants. The religious composition in 2011 was as follows: Hindus made up 79.8% (964.6 million or 96.46 crore), Muslims 14.2% (172.2 million or 17.22 crore), Christians 2.3% (27.8 million or 2.78 crore), Sikhs 1.7% (20.8 million or 2.08 crore), Buddhists 0.7% (8.4 million or 84 lakh), Jains 0.4% (4.5 million or 45 lakh), and other religions 0.9% (10.9 million or 1.09 crore).