oppn parties What Will The High-Powered Committee Scrutinize Without Latest Census Data?

News Snippets

  • Sikh extremists attacked a cinema hall in London that was playing Kangana Ranaut's controversial film 'Emergency'
  • A Delhi court directed the investigating agencies to senstize officers to collect nail clippings, fingernail scrappings or finger swab in order to get DNA profile as direct evidence of sexual attack is often not present and might result in an offender going scot free
  • Uniform Civil Code rules cleared by state cabinet, likely to be implemented in the next 10 days
  • Supreme Court reiterates that there is no point in arresting the accused after the chargesheet has been filed and the investigation is complete
  • Kolkata court sentences Sanjoy Roy, the sole accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case, to life term. West Bengal government and CBI to appeal in HC for the death penalty
  • Supreme Court stays criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against home minister Amit Shah in Jharkhand during the AICC plenary session
  • Government reviews import basket to align it with the policies of the Trump administration
  • NCLT orders liquidation of GoAir airlines
  • Archery - Indian archers bagged 2 silver in Nimes Archery tournament in France
  • Stocks make impressive gain on Monday - Sensex adds 454 points to 77073 and Nifty 141 points to 23344
  • D Gukesh draws with Fabiano Caruana in the Tata Steel chess tournament in the Netherlands
  • Women's U-19 T20 WC - In a stunning game, debutants Nigeria beat New Zealand by 2 runs
  • Rohit Sharma to play under Ajinkye Rahane in Mumbai's Ranji match against J&K
  • Virat Kohli to play in Delhi's last group Ranji trophy match against Saurashtra. This will be his first Ranji match in 12 years
  • The toll in the Rajouri mystery illness case rose to 17 even as the Centre sent a team to study the situation
Calling the case not 'rarest of rare', a court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy, the only accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case to life in prison until death
oppn parties
What Will The High-Powered Committee Scrutinize Without Latest Census Data?

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2024-02-03 06:53:55

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman revealed during her interim budget speech in Parliament that the government would establish a high-powered committee to scrutinize the "challenges arising from fast population growth and demographic challenges," along with a range of population-related issues. Although the announcement was greeted with applause from the treasury benches, there would have been no need for such an exercise if Census 2021 had been carried out immediately after the Covid situation became normal.

There is no doubt that addressing issues related to population growth and demographic changes is crucial in a vast and diverse nation like India. There is unanimous agreement on the necessity of mapping population and demographics. The Census was postponed due to the pandemic-related disruption in 2020 (when it was to be set in motion) but since then, more than three years have passed without the Centre feeling the need for it. Considering the government's track record in data collection and management, it would be better to conduct the Census immediately after the general elections as the Census data will provide the latest data that can then be scrutinized by the high-powered committee.

The government must realize that although data is collected through various channels such as the National Family Health Survey and the Sample Registration System, these efforts are not as comprehensive as the Census survey. The need is for consolidating data from diverse surveys to kick-start the crucial Census enumeration. For, the Census Commissioner of India has unmatched statutory powers and autonomy and past experience has shown that data collected via Census is reliable and offers scope for analyzing the demographic challenges faced by India.

It is difficult to speculate on the motive behind the high-powered committee instead of carrying out the Census but this approach seems misguided. Census is the best way for comprehensive and unbiased collection of demographic data for informed policymaking and planning for India's future.