Traditional method of census may scraps by 2011

The traditional method of population census will soon be the thing of the past as the government is planning to move into the new era of technology of real-time regular data collection, which would enable the government in terms of saving money and time and free from discrepancies in the data collection method.

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To implement the scheme the government is considering to merge the preparation of national population census 2011 with the electronically directed National Population Register (NPR).

Thus the whole process of collecting data and information related to individuals will accordingly be linked to the system of registration of births and deaths in the entire country and the updating will be easy with just every addition and deletion and the updated data would be available to person with just a simple clicking of the mouse.

The Home Minister Shivraj Patil was speaking while inaugurating a two-day Data Users’ conference for the 2011 Census, organised by the Registrar General and Census Commission.

The electronically aided method would not only facilitate more accurate demographic picture by enumerating temporary migrants at their usual residence rather then actual residence at the time of enumeration but also cut down the gap between completion of census and releasing of data.

Results of the 2001 census were released in less than five years as against eight years in the 1991 census. Such differences can only be get rid of by using technology at every possible stage of the census planning and operations.

“It should be our endeavour now to squeeze the time further and complete the release of 2011 data in 2-3 years from the date of completion of the Census,” Patil stated.

The Home Minster expected that the creation of NPR with the same reference date as the census would be immensely useful and would provide the exact number of family and households, as the NPR will have specified characteristics of each individual together with the photograph and finger biometrics.

Moreover the population of the country would expectedly be reached to 1.20 billion by 2011 and would involve 2 million enumerators to conduct the forthcoming Census-taking exercise to be put on a period of 4 weeks from February 2-28, 2011 followed by a revision round during March 1-5.

Patil believes that the upcoming 2011 census would be a challenge owing to the government’s planning to merge the preparation of National Population Register with it.

Asking about the need for technological initiatives Patil said the discrepancies in the data occur under the traditional de-facto method because the population was counted wherever they are found to be living during the three weeks of census taking.

With the increasing mobility and the inter-state migration of the people the method of census owing to its limitation of providing exact figure has become void now.

To strike out these discrepancies the Census authorities-the Registrar General of India (RGI) have proposed a combination of the de-facto and de-jure methods for the 2011 census, by which temporary migrants will be counted at their usual residence, defined as households where they have stayed for most part of the 12 months preceding the enumeration period.

The effort will be put on for streamlining between the enumerator’s motivation and respondent’s fatigue by ensuring less number of questions in the next census to make the process hassle free.