Timing in politics, as in other facets of life, is important. And, frankly, even though the nation-wide headcount is mandated by law, and needs to be carried out every ten years, and has been done for decades, this time it is bound to fuel distrust and suspicion. Muslims, who are out on the streets protesting often violently against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, even though it does not impact them directly or indirectly, are not likely to take kindly to the normal decennial exercise every civilized nation carries out regularly. The announcement about the census, coming at a time when the agitation against CAA is still to die down, is certainly ill-timed. It is a surprise the Union Cabinet on Tuesday failed to put off the decision for at least a few weeks for normalcy to be fully restored. It now provides the hot heads in the minority community, who any case have always remained on the lookout for an opportunity to stir the pot of protest and agitation against the BJP-led government, yet another opportunity to create trouble. However, if facts alone are considered the Union Cabinet’s decision is unexceptionable. The decadal census, last conpducted in 2011 when the UPA was in power, will cost over Rs 9,000 crores. And its twin, the National Population Register (NPR), first initiated by the Congress-led UPA Government in 2011, will cost another Rs 4,000 crores. While the census will be conducted throughout the country, NPR exercise will exclude Assam where the process for a National Register of Citizens was recently completed, albeit in a most dissatisfactory manner. Briefing newspersons after the meeting of the Cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javedekar insisted that neither the census nor the NPR had anything to do even remotely with the NRC. He said that the NPR exercise, which will require house-listing and housing census, will be conducted between April and September next year. The population enumeration will be completed between February 9 and February 28 the following year. The first NPR was prepared in 2010 under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and Citizenship Rules, 2003. Hailing the first NPR in 2010, the then Home Minister P Chidambaram had said, and we quote, “For the first time in human history an exercise of this kind of beginning to identify, count, enumerate, record and eventually issue an ID card to 120 crore people is being undertaken…an exercise of this kind has not been attempted anywhere else in the world…” Chidambaram’s NPR was updated in 2015. Demographic details of all those resident in India, including foreigners residing here for six or more months, will be noted on 21 points, including date and place of birth of parents, permanent account number, Aadhaar (on voluntary basis), voter ID card, driving license, mobile number, etc. “Every house will be mapped, listed during April and September 2020. In February 2021, the headcount will be done,” Javdekar told newspersons. “No proof, no paper, no document, no biometric is required. We trust the people,” he insisted. In order to reassure the people that NPR did not have any hidden agenda, the minister said it was the UPA Government which had begun the NPR exercise and the first few cards were distributed by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Given that a number of State Governments in the backdrop of the Muslim-dominated stir against the CAA had publicly come out against NPR, Javdekar sought to remind them that it was a national obligation. This would be the 16th census and second NPR.
The fraught circumstances under which the census and NPR are proposed to be conducted, it is unfortunate that the twin processes will be seen with great suspicion by a large section of the people. It is hard to convince these people that a modern State relies on the population data, including that pertaining to literacy, housing, income, etc., to frame developmental policies as also to demarcate legislative seats both at the State and national levels. Indeed, in the US every citizen on the day of the decennial census, conducted region-wise, is mandated by law to stay at home on the designated day and time to facilitate the headcount. On the other hand, our census process lacks the same rigor and sincerity, with the concerned authorities very often extrapolating data to arrive at the final numbers. This time, however, partisan politics is set to make an honest headcount that much more harder. Hopefully, better sense will prevail and our rulers will allow a value-neutral census to be carried out in a most professional manner possible. For, it is not a partisan matter and is certainly not meant to target the Muslims.
