'There will be not less than 31 lakh people working in the census process.'
The last census in India was in 2011. That was 14 years ago.
The 2021 census had to be cancelled because of the pandemic.
Finally, there is official confirmation that the next census exercise will happen in 2027.
How will the census be conducted in a country with more than 1.4 billion people?
How many people are involved in this massive exercise?
How long will it take to finish the process?
K Narayanan Unni, a retired officer of the Indian Statistical Service, who served as Deputy Registrar General and a member of the advisory committee for Census 2011 and 2021, decodes the whole exercise.
"Census field work is normally done by teachers. They form the large chunk of enumerators," Mr Unni tells Rediff Shobha Warrier.
It is reported that the first phase of Census 2027 will begin in April 2026. When will the preparations actually begin, and where?
It is a fact that many people do not know when the real preparations for the census start.
The preparations start at least a couple of years before the real census work.
We had already prepared the questionnaire for the 2021 census but because of the pandemic, the census process did not happen.
I feel they may use the same questionnaire with some small changes.
In fact, from 1991, not many changes have taken place in the questionnaire.
The entire census process begins with preparing the questionnaire. Usually, it is done based on the previous census, and also the changes that have taken place in society.
We normally have a data users' conference of various data users including central and state government departments and research institutions which helps in reviewing the questions in the previous censuses and suggestions for adding new questions to the questionnaire.
This is based on the demands from the ground.
Then, a technical advisory committee goes through the specific requirements and the final questionnaire is prepared.
Who prepares the questionnaire?
The questionnaire is prepared by the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. This office is under the ministry of home affairs.
Once the government decides to conduct a census, a Census Commissioner is appointed as provided in the Census Act of 1948.
Generally, there are 20 to 23 questions with sub-questions in many of them.
Once the questions are drafted, they are taken to the field for testing. This is done through the Directorates of Census in the state capitals.
The state offices select the sample areas for testing. This is done to find out whether the questions could be asked in the same manner or whether it required some changes.
Once the questionnaire is finalised, it will be translated into all the Indian languages, and it is done by individual state offices.
Then, it is sent back to the Registrar General of India's office as the design is done centrally.
It takes 5 to 6 months to finalise the questions, and another couple of months to design and print the questionnaire.
It was reported that for the first time, data will be collected digitally and not on paper...
Although it is done digitally, enumerators will carry forms as a backup with them.
In fact, it was planned to collect data digitally in 2021 itself.
The difference this time may be in the significantly larger number of enumerators using the digital process.
When do you recruit people who go to the field as enumerators?
The census field work is normally done by teachers.
It is the responsibility of the state government to appoint the district census officers, the supervisors, enumerators, etc. They are appointed separately for the two phases of census and is done about two months before census.
From the beginning itself, were teachers recruited as enumerators?
Even in earlier censuses, most of the enumerators were teachers.
But we use other people also. For example, in the army areas, army personnel do the work. In railway colonies, railway staff does the work.
Yes, teachers form the large chunk of enumerators.
One reason for recruiting teachers is because only teachers are available in villages. In most Indian villages, there are hardly any government officials.
Most of the villages are very small with just about 1,000 people residing in one village and a teacher from the nearest school was the best option.
Of course, Kerala is an exception where the villages are very large.
IMAGE: K Narayanan Unni.In a large country like India, how many people do you require to do this duty?
In 2021, we had expected more than 3 million people as enumerators and supervisors.
You need a supervisor for 4 to 5 enumerators.
Above the supervisors come the Charge Officers, normally tahsildars in rural areas and municipal commissioners in urban areas. They number around 10,000.
Overall, there will be not less than 31 lakh (3.1 million) people working in the census process.
3 million is more than the population of 80-90 countries in the world!
It was reported that the first phase of the census is house-listing, and will start in April 2026. What exactly is house-listing?
Actually, before house-listing, there is one more activity which is compiling a list of all the town and villages.
In India, we have this habit of creating new towns, and changing the boundaries of towns and villages, tahsils and districts. This creates a big problem for the census.
Because of this, the central government gives a directive to the state governments that after a particular date, they are not supposed to alter the boundaries of the existing villages and towns.
The Centre has already given December 31, 2025 as the date after which no state can alter the boundaries of any administrative area.
So, from January 1, 2026, the boundaries are frozen.
Once the boundaries are frozen, the state governments start appointing people at different levels starting with the census officers in charge of each district.
In fact, the existing officers are given additional charges, and no new officers are appointed. For example, the district collector/magistrate is the District Census officer, tahsildar/municipal Commissioner works as the Charge Officer, etc.
After that comes the house-listing process.
Part 2 of the interview: 'Caste Enumeration WILL Be A Big Challenge'
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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