According to sources on Sunday, the central government has begun preparing for the decadal census, but it has not yet been decided whether to include a caste column in the process. One source, who spoke under anonymity, stated that the decadal census will take place shortly.
Since 1881, India has carried out a census every ten years. The Covid-19 pandemic caused the census's first phase, which was scheduled to start on April 1, 2020, to be delayed. The decadal census is also related to the way in which Parliament conducted the Women's Reservation Act last year. The law designating one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women will take effect following a delimitation exercise based on pertinent data from the first census taken after the act's enactment.
The source responded, "This is yet to be decided," when questioned about whether or not the decadal census would include a caste column. Demands for a caste census have been loudly made by the political parties. The government agencies are still using the information from the 2011 census to determine policies and distribute subsidies in the lack of new data.
The government is expected to spend more than Rs 12,000 crore on the entire census and NPR (National Population Register) process, according to the officials. When it takes place, this will be the first digital census that allows citizens to self-enumerate.