The giant head count

Census 2001, which will involve two million enumerators, will be staggered over three weeks in February 2001.

V.VENKATESAN
in New Delhi

UNTIL 1931, the Indian Census, the gigantic decennial exercise that was started in 1872, was scheduled on a single night two or three days before or after the full moon day, which is generally marked by festivities in many parts of the country. The timing was important: the enumeration had to be done when there was sufficient moonlight and when there were no festivities. An exercise of this scale naturally involved a very large number of enumerators. Their number was two million in 1931. Resource-constraints forced the authorities to revise and stagger the process in 1941, on which occasion the number of enumerators was one million.

The number of enumerators for the 1991 Census was about 1.5 million. The 2001 Census, will be staggered over three weeks. In spite of this, initial estimates put the required number of enumerators at the same level as in 1931: two million. They will cover an estimated population of 101.2 crores.

The area covered in undivided India in 1931 was about 5 million sq km, whereas after Independence it is only 3 million sq km. The size of the census machinery has thus grown phenomenally, necessitated by population growth. The 1991 Census cost Rs. 400 crores. The estimates for 2001 will depend on the rate of inflation, the growth in the population, and the increase in the number of information-related inputs.

The accent on reaching every person in the country is an outstanding feature of the Indian Census. China, whose population is bigger than that of India, does not conduct its Census so elaborately. Chinese enumerators, unlike their Indian counterparts, do not visit every household; the people are asked to report at the nearest census booth on a specified day for enumeration. The level of accuracy is inevitably lower in this case, for it is possible that some people would not report at the booth. In the "mail out" method in the United States, people fill and return the enumeration forms. As only some 60 per cent of the people respond thus, enumerators in the U.S. pursue the others in order to complete the exercise. Naturally, the U.S. pattern involves a huge expenditure. The Indian enumerator goes to every household, and even reaches the homeless, thereby ensuring full coverage of the population.

The output of the Indian Census over the years is equally impressive. The data from the 1991 Census, says Registrar-General and Census Commissioner M. Vijayanunni, were brought out in 120 tables and 1,500 volumes spread over six lakh printed pages. For the first time, 300 floppy disks containing the data generated by the Census were released. The Census Commission also released through the internet data in order to enable users to know where and how to access information. The Commission's Web site has had millions of strikes (http://www.censusindia.net).

R.V.MOORTHY
Registrar-General and Census Commissioner M. Vijayanunni.

The dissemination of the data generated by Census 2001 is expected to be faster than in the case of the 1991 Census. "Provisional figures will come out in a week after the Census, and the quantum of data available will be much higher than in 1991," Vijayanunni, Senior Indian Administrative Service Officer, said.

Preparations for Census 2001 are as extensive as that for the earlier censuses, and no radical changes would be introduced, Vijayanunni said. "We have to ensure comparability with the results of earlier censuses. There is no scope for tinkering with the questions to be asked by the enumerators, as we have to compare statistics over a period of time," he said. However, the Government is keen to keep out questions that did not elicit useful responses earlier. For instance, a question on physical disabilities was meant to obtain data on the number of people who suffered from blindness, deafness, and orthopaedic disabilities. The question was retained in every Census until 1941, although it was clear that there was underenumeration. The question was abandoned after Independence. However, it was reintroduced in 1981 at the instance of the Union Welfare Ministry, to coincide with the International Year of the Disabled. However, to its dismay, the Commission found that the result was as unsatisfactory as it was earlier.

Data from the 1981 Census showed that 4.8 lakh people were vision-impaired, 3.6 lakh were movement-impaired and 2.8 lakh were speech-impaired, putting the total number of disabled persons in the country at 11 lakhs. However, according to various other estimates, the disabled formed at least 10 per cent of the population; even conservative estimates put the figure of such persons at nearly 4 per cent. The Government therefore dropped the relevant question in 1991 and has decided to stick to the decision in 2001 as well.

Similarly, another question, intended to elicit data on exservicemen, was introduced in 1991 at the instance of the Defence Ministry. The data were minuscule; it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, Vijayanunni said. The question, therefore, may be abandoned in 2001.

The 1981 Census excluded Assam owing to the troubled law and order situation in the State at that time, and the 1991 Census excluded Jammu and Kashmir for the same reason. The Government is hopeful that the 2001 Census will cover the entire country as "things have improved tremendously".

The next Census will begin in the second week of February 2001 and will be completed in the first week of March. The enumerators - schoolteachers and government employees - will pose questions to 200 million households on economic, educational, demographic and socio-cultural factors so as to produce data on a variety of subjects, which include migration, fertility and housing. To cover the homeless, enumerators are deputed one night to the areas where they live. The Census also includes foreigners living in India.

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