Delay census indefinitely, vital reports on births and pending deaths since 2020

With the exercise of the decadal census on waiting since 2021 and it is unlikely to be carried out this year, at least two other key reports on births and deaths in the country have not been released by the Ministry of Interior of the Union during the last five years.

The “vital statistics of India based on the civil registration system” and “the report on the medical certification of the cause of death” were last published by 2020. The annual report “Crime in India” of The National Crime Record Office (NCRB) by 2023 has not yet been launched.

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According to the Civil Registry System Report 2020, vital statistics are a compilation of the “occurrence and characteristics of vital events such as births, feetal deaths” registered throughout the country, and is “invaluable to plan, monitor and evaluate several Programs related to primary health, family planning, maternal and infant health, and education ”, among others.

In 2023, the Center promulgated the Law of Registration of Births and Deaths (amendment), 2023, which demanded that all births and deaths in the country occur since October 1, 2023 were digitally registered through the Central Crsorgi.gov .in. The center, therefore, has access to real -time data.

According to the information available publicly, the States and the union territories such as Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Chandigarh, Mizoram, GOA, Arunachal Pradesh have published reports until 2022. The latest report of vital statistics published for Kerala was for 2021 and Mizoram It was the only one established the report by 2023.

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The census, which would be carried out in 2020-21, was initially delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the persistent demands of the opposition parties for the enumeration of castes seem to have maintained the exercise now.

According to a senior government official, while deliberations on forms and measures to count the number of castes remained in recent months, the Government of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by BJP was not in a hurry to implement the census. In addition to the scheduled castes (SC) and the programmed tribes (ST), the population of castes had not been listed in independent India.

In 2011, the united progressive alliance led by Congress (UPA) carried out the first caste count under the socio -economic census and castes (SECC), separated from the exercise of the census, but the findings never became public.

According to an affidavit presented by the Government of the Union in 2021, the SECC data filled with “errors and inaccuracies” had thrown more than 46 LAKH of castes, while the 1931 census registered only 4,147 said names.

“For the census to happen this year, the government should have issued the notification in November 2024. The 10 -month period to carry out the census in two phases generally begins from April 1 and since it will be the first digital census, More than 30 Lakh the enumerators would require a new training, which takes three to four months, ”said a former census official.

No separate assignment was made to carry out the census in the Budget of the Union.

Another official said that although a final decision was expected, around 24 enumeration blocks of the 24 Lakh were already completed and the training would not require much time since the enumerators were trained in 2019 before the first phase of the census: the list of The house and housing schedule, that would begin on April 1, 2020.

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According to D. Sathiyavan, Center for Population Studies in charge, University of Madras, a new census was essential to understand the composition of the population and demographic changes in the country.

“The census data in use is 13 years old, the fresh census is essential to understand the composition of the population, understand the working age group, household spending, the demographic profile, the population below the poverty line and vital parameters such as births and deaths … .. The details of the caste are necessary for the implementation of the reserve, ”said Dr. Sathiyavan.

S. Iudaya Rajan, president of the International Institute of Migration and Development, said the policies were being promoted without data.

“Only a few people care about the data. Yes [government] I wanted to carry out the census, preparations should have already begun. Policy formulators are not interested. The new government arrived in 2014 and there has not been a census since then, ”he said.

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On February 1, the Secretary General of Congress, Jairam Ramesh, said that this was the first time since the independence that the government had not carried out the census in time.

“The consequences on the administrative capabilities of the State are serious: an example is 10-12 million people who have been excluded from the scope of the National Food Security Law/Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yjana. It also means that the government will surely continue to avoid the census of socio -economic castes, ”Ramesh had said.