2021 census of India
16th Indian census / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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]
16th census of India | ||||
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General information | ||||
Country | India | |||
Authority | Ministry of Home Affairs | |||
Website | censusindia.gov.in |
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] 2021 census will be carried out in 16 languages.[8] In February 2021, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated ₹37.68 billion (US$470 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 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]