Census of India

The decennial census of India has been conducted 15 times, as of 2011. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1872.^[1] Post 1949, it has been conducted by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. All the censuses since 1951 were conducted under the 1948 Census of India Act, which predates the Constitution of India.^[2] The 1948 Census of India Act does not bind the Union Government to conduct the census on a particular date or to release its data in a notified period. The last census was held in 2011, whilst the next was to be held in 2021 before it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India.^[3] The next census is yet to have a confirmed date.^[4]

British Rule

Cover of Volume 17 of the 1911 census report (fully digitized file)

Census in British India refers to the census of India prior to independence which was conducted periodically from 1865 to 1941. The censuses were primarily concerned with administration and faced numerous problems in their design and conduct ranging from the absence of house numbering in hamlets to cultural objections on various grounds to dangers posed by wild animals to census personnel. The sociologist Michael Mann called the census exercise "more telling of the administrative needs of the British than of the social reality for the people of British India".^[5] The differences in the nature of Indian society during the British Raj from the value system and the societies of the West were highlighted by the inclusion of "caste", "religion", "profession" and "age" in the data to be collected, as the collection and analysis of that information had a considerable impact on the structure and politics of Indian society.

Republic of India

List of censuses conducted in India after independence:

References

^ Sugden, Joanna; Seervai, Shanoor (9 January 2015). "Where Are India's 2011 Census Figures on Religion?". The Wall Street Journal.
^ "The delay in the decennial Census". The Hindu. 9 January 2023.
^ "Explained:The delay in the decennial census". The Hindu. January 9, 2023.
^ "India to begin delayed census in Sept as Modi looks to plug data gaps, sources say". Reuters. 21 August 2024.
^ Mann (2015), p. 169

Works cited

Mann, Michael (2015), South Asia's Modern History: Thematic Perspectives, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-31762-446-2

External links

Media related to Censuses in India at Wikimedia Commons
Stamps issued by India Post

[1] Sugden, Joanna; Seervai, Shanoor (9 January 2015). "Where Are India's 2011 Census Figures on Religion?". The Wall Street Journal.

[early2024-2] "The delay in the decennial Census". The Hindu. 9 January 2023.

[3] "Explained:The delay in the decennial census". The Hindu. January 9, 2023.

[4] "India to begin delayed census in Sept as Modi looks to plug data gaps, sources say". Reuters. 21 August 2024.

[FOOTNOTEMann2015169-5] Mann (2015), p. 169

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