The basic format for self-enumeration by individuals for the mammoth Census exercise is ready and is undergoing internal testing by the office of the Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the Census, scheduled in 2020, but keeping in mind the dynamic situation, self-enumeration may be opened up for a sample population once the internal testing is over.
Presently, the Centre is focussing on completing more than 80 per cent vaccination of its citizens, which may delay the rolling out of the Census till 2022. But preparations for self-enumeration on the Census portal are on track and may be opened up for the general population before the door-to-door exercise for the two-phased census operations- the houselisting and housing census and population enumeration begins, sources told The Week.
“A final decision on when it will be opened up for general public has not been taken yet but it’s work in progress,” said a government official.
The census portal has been made available for internal testing where more than 200 officials are testing the self-enumeration exercise by filling up their own data in relevant columns through a onetime password (OTP) that can be generated using the mobile phone. ''Discussions are taking place about the efficacy of the self-enumeration exercise like updating it and making provisions for new entries like child birth and so on,'' said an official.
Weekly meetings are being held to review the self-enumeration exercise and another meeting is scheduled next week where all the sticking points will be discussed.
Once the Census portal is made open, individuals may be able to log in using their mobile numbers and fill up their details. The OTP, just like on the Cowin app, is expected to allow the individual to see his or her information. Only this time, the individual will be required to fill in the form for population enumeration and codes will be displayed on the screen to fill in the various options for around 28 questions.
Then there are other issues. While the self-enumeration exercise is proving to be successful for the Census operations, there is still no decision on whether the National Population Register (NPR) exercise should be rolled out simultaneously.
Several states have already objected to the NPR, which is making the MHA tread carefully on the issue. However, the Census self-enumeration will be a first of its kind digital exercise which will save time, particularly during a pandemic. This will, however, not replace the door-to-door enumeration, officials pointed out.
But the advantage for the population will be that once they have done the self-enumeration, they will receive an identity number on their mobile phones and when the enumerator goes for the houselisting exercise, the ID number can be shared , which will automatically sync all the data already filled online.
The government had decided last year to conduct a digital census by giving gadgets to all enumerators to fill up the data online. The self-enumeration will make the task easier, explained a government official.
The Census is expected to be a threefold process for now. The paper schedule, which cannot be done on the mobile and will be done by the enumerator on the ground; the mobile or digital data filling by the enumerator and thirdly, the self-enumeration exercise by the individuals.
The Census of India is the largest administrative and statistical exercise in the world. This time, the government had introduced the use of a mobile app for data collection for the Central portal to ensure early release of census data with improved quality.