Census

13th December, 2021 Polity

Figure 2: No Copyright Infringement Intended

Context:

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has registered a complaint filed by the Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) on against racial profiling of Chakmas and Hajongs in Arunachal Pradesh through an exclusive census of both the communities from December 11-31.

The Deputy Commissioner of Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district had notified the “census of Chakmas and Hajongs 2021”.

there is no census on the illegal immigrants from Myanmar and China
the illegal immigrants who had entered through Assam
thousands of people who had entered Arunachal Pradesh without inner line permit (ILP).
the Chakmas and Hajongs were settled by the Union of India from 1964 to 1969 to permanently settle them in the State and they do not require ILP.

‘Population enumeration’ phase:
- It will be carried out from February 9 to 28, 2021.
- It will have the facility of online self-enumeration for the public.
- Respondent could register online and fill in the details and share the reference number with the enumerators when they arrive.
- It will not be available in the first phase.
House Listing and Housing Census
- It is to be carried out from April 1 to September 30 this year.
- The National Population Register (NPR) will also be updated simultaneously in the first phase.
- The information asked would be whether the respondent has access to LPG/PNG connection.
- If the person owns a radio, transistor or television has access to the Internet; whether they own a laptop, computer, telephone, mobile phone, among other things.
2021 would be the first-ever Census to be conducted with a mixed mode approach
- A mobile app (created in-house by the RGI office)
- Will have the facility for online self-enumeration for the public during the population enumeration phase.

The Indian census is the largest administrative and statistical exercise in the world, with more than 30 lakh functionaries and at the cost of about 8700 crore rupees.
Confidentiality of data is guaranteed by Census Act, 1948.
Same law specifies penalty for BOTH public AND census officials for non-compliance or violation of any provision of the Act.
The decennial Census of India has been conducted 15 times as of 2011.
It has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881.

Chakmas are predominantly Buddhists while Hajongs are Hindus.
They were inhabitants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts of erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) who migrated to India due to:

Submergence of their land by the Kaptai dam on the Karnaphuli River in the 1960s.
religious persecution they faced in East Pakistan as they were non-Muslims.