NEWS

The government has notified certain amendments to Census rules to allow online self-enumeration in the upcoming Census and National Population Register (NPR)

WHAT IS CENSUS

• Total process of collecting, compiling, analyzing and disseminating demographic, economic and social data pertaining, at a specific time, of all persons in a country or a well-defined part of a country
• Also provides the trends in population characteristics

WHAT DOES NEW RULES INCLUDE

• Census Rules, 1990 is amended to include “electronic form” and “self-enumeration” in the schedule of questions to be asked during census enumeration
• Self-enumeration’ means filling-up, completion and submission of census schedule by respondents themselves
• Census commissioner will devise the census schedules or questionnaires and provide to the State Governments or Union Territory Administrations for publication in their respective Gazette in order to canvass in the census and to be used for self-enumeration after in the census

WHAT IS NATIONAL POPULATION REGISTER (NPR)

• Updation exercise will be undertaken alongside Census 2021
• Will be conducted by the Office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) under the Home Ministry
• By definition – It is a list of “usual residents of the country”.
• A “usual resident of the country” is one who has been residing in a local area for at least the last six months, or intends to stay in a particular location for the next six months.
• Being prepared under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
• It is mandatory for every “usual resident of India” to register in the NPR