Centre to begin census from 2025, Lok Sabha seats delimitation by 2028: Sources

The government plans to begin the long-delayed Census in 2025, which will be followed by delimitation of Lok Sabha seats, sources said.

In Short

• Census likely to start in 2025 after four-year delay
• Opposition demands caste census, government undecided
• Delimitation of Lok Sabha seats to be held after post-census by 2028

The government is expected to begin the next census, an official survey of the country's population, in 2025 after a four-year-long delay, sources said on Monday. The process will commence in 2025 and is expected to continue until 2026.

Following the Census, the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats will commence, and this exercise is likely to be completed by 2028, the sources added.

This development comes amid demands from several opposition parties for a caste census. However, the government has not yet made a decision, and the details of the census process are yet to be made public.

However, sources indicate that next year's census may also include surveys of sub-sects within the General and SC-ST categories, in addition to the usual categorisation by religion and social class, as well as counts of General, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes.

OPPOSITION PRESSES CASTE CENSUS

Following reports about the census, discussion on a caste census has resumed. Leaders from various opposition parties, including Congress, have called on the government to conduct a nationwide caste census. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh urged the Centre to convene an all-party meeting to clarify matters related to the caste census and Lok Sabha delimitation.

Ramesh said, "There is still absolutely no clarity on two crucial issues: Will this new Census include a detailed enumeration of all castes in the country?" and "Will this Census be used for determining the strength of each state in the Lok Sabha," which might disadvantage "states that have been pioneers in family planning?"

Congress leader Manickam Tagore, said that the central government's refusal to conduct a caste census constitutes a betrayal of OBC communities.

He tweeted, Modi’s refusal to conduct a Caste Census is a clear betrayal of OBC communities. Ignoring the voices demanding justice, he’s denying our people their due representation--all because of political arrogance," Tagore said, also asking, "Will RSS, JDU, &TDP stand with the people or stay silent?"

Partners of the BJP-led NDA have also renewed their support for a caste census. The JDU stated that it favours a caste census if the government conducts it next year.

"We are in favour of a nationwide caste census, and if the government plans to conduct the survey next year, we would be very happy if it includes a caste census. We are part of the alliance and have raised this issue within the National Democratic Alliance. A nationwide caste census will empower the underprivileged sections of society," said JDU national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP-Ram Vilas) MP Shambhavi Chaudhary also called for a nationwide caste census, saying it would help improve conditions for the downtrodden sections of society. She emphasised that the caste census data should be used solely for governance and not be made public.

"I think it's a good step (conducting the Census)...We are all in favour of a caste census, as it helps provide a clear understanding of the total number of people of a particular caste, allowing us to design and implement policies accordingly," she said.

CENSUS AFTER 4-YEAR-DELAY

The census, typically conducted every ten years to update the National Population Register (NPR), was scheduled for 2021 but had to be postponed due to the Covid pandemic. Now, the census cycle is also expected to change.

Hinting an immediate beginning of the much-delayed census processes, the central deputation of Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, currently serving as Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, has been extended recently till August 2026.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on the probability of conducting the decadal census, had said in August that "it will be carried out at an appropriate time. Once decided, I will announce how it will be done". Shah had also mentioned that the next national census would be done fully digitally through a mobile phone application.

The last census recorded a population of over 121 crores in India, reflecting a growth rate of 17.7 per cent.