India will deploy more than 3 million officials over the next year to count every resident in the world’s most populous country, in a vast census exercise that was pushed back from 2021 partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports Reuters.
The population count, conducted once every decade, will begin on April 1 with a limited period for people who want to register online, the government said on Monday.
That will be followed by two stages of door-to-door enumeration. The first will record houses and housing conditions, while the second will gather details on residents and their economic and social characteristics, Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan told reporters.
India, with a population of more than 1.4 billion, surpassed China in 2023, according to the United Nations Population Fund.
The exercise will also collect caste data, Narayan said, reviving debate over a social hierarchy that has shaped Indian society and politics for centuries.
Caste remains a powerful force in public life, with numerous political parties organised around caste identities and affirmative action quotas in place for the so-called lower castes in jobs and higher education at many state institutions.
Backers of the move say updated caste data is necessary to identify groups that qualify for state support, while opponents argue caste should have no role in a country seeking to establish itself as a major global power.
India recorded caste details in 2011 for the first time in 80 years, but the findings were never fully released because of concerns over their accuracy.
Economists and analysts have not generally viewed India’s population size as a major concern. The government has for years presented the country’s largely young population as a potential economic strength, arguing that it could supply a deep pool of skilled labour at a time when many large economies are grappling with ageing populations and shrinking workforces.
Narayan said the census was expected to be completed by next March and that multiple data sets, collected digitally for the first time, would be published soon afterwards.
