The Office of Registrar General of India (ORGI) has said the Census exercise in the country may not take place in the next year; TOI has reported.
In its recent reply to an RTI query sent by TOI, the ORGI’s response said, “It is very difficult to conduct the Census and general elections simultaneously due to the involvement of the state machinery.”
A top Census Department official said more than 30 lakh government staff, including teachers, who would be enumerators, would be deployed for general election duty too. “So, it looks almost impossible to conduct the Census in an election year,” the official added.
As per the report, the RTI reply also said that the deadline to freeze the administrative boundaries of districts, tehsils, and towns has been extended to December 31, 2023. Two other deadlines, June 30, 2023, and December 31, 2022, have gone by.
“The dates have been extended twice. There will be a three-year delay for the Census if the enumeration is not carried out next year too,” a Census department official added.
As per 8 (iv) of the Census Rules, 1990, the boundaries of the administrative units must be frozen from the date intimated by the Census Commissioner. The census can only begin three months after the boundaries have been frozen.
The census was to be held in 2021, 10 years after the last Census in 2011.
