Latest news with #Census2011
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
West Bengal bye-election: 30.6% voter turnout recorded in Kaliganj till 11am
Polling officials recorded a voter turnout of 30.6% till 11 am in the Kaliganj assembly seat bye-election as the process went on smoothly in the first half of the day in West Bengal's Nadia district on Thursday. The bye-election was necessitated due to the sudden demise of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed in February this year. Counting of votes will be held on June 23. 'Voting was going on peacefully with no reports of any untoward incidents,' said a poll panel official in West Bengal. While the ruling TMC has fielded Alifa Ahmed, daughter of the former MLA and an IT engineer by profession, the BJP has fielded Ashis Ghosh, a businessman, as its candidate. The Congress, meanwhile, has fielded Kabil Uddin Shaikh with the support of the CPI(M). Kaliganj has a Muslim voter population of around 54%, along with SCs (14%) and STs (0.42%). It is predominantly rural, with more than 90% rural and around 9% urban population, as per Census 2011. The TMC had first won the seat in 2011 after it came to power ending the 34-year-old Left regime when Nasiruddin Ahmed was elected. In 2016, he lost the seat to Congress-CPM alliance candidate Sheikh Hasanuzzaman. However, Hasanuzzaman later joined Trinamool. Nasiruddin reclaimed the Kaliganj seat in the 2021 Assembly polls. The seat fell vacant after his demise. The bye-election is being seen as a litmus test for both the ruling TMC and its arch rival the BJP ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Nagpur ZP, Panchayat Samiti Elections Get Green Light; Ward Formation Deadline Set
Nagpur: The Maharashtra govt has initiated the long-awaited process to hold general elections for zilla parishads (ZPs) and panchayat samitis (PSs), including Nagpur, whose bodies were dissolved earlier this year on January 17. A detailed order was issued on Thursday, outlining the steps and deadlines to determine new ward boundaries ahead of the polls. In an official communication dated June 12, the state issued orders to determine the number of members and draw fresh ward boundaries for all affected rural local bodies. District collectors have been empowered to carry out this critical groundwork as part of the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti General Election (Number of Members, Ward Composition) Order, 2025. The process includes fixing the number of members for each ZP and PS, which is currently at 57 and 114 respectively, and dividing constituencies based on the rural population of each district as per the latest Census 2011. The state has made it clear that natural boundaries and geographical continuity must be considered during ward formation, and care should be taken not to divide existing gram panchayats or tribal settlements wherever possible. Importantly, the state has also issued a strict confidentiality clause, prohibiting any premature disclosure of the ward structure before the official draft is released. Officers violating this could face disciplinary action. The entire exercise has been put on a fast track, with a fixed five-phase schedule, so that elections can be held within four months. Citizens are encouraged to participate actively during the feedback phase to ensure transparency and representation. The State Election Commission will supervise the final approval and publication of ward maps before poll dates are announced. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Tech could help process Census data within 9 months; mobile apps to be used for count
NEW DELHI: Final population data from Census 2027 may be available as early as the end of 2027, thanks to the 'digital' mode being introduced for capturing and processing datasets in the upcoming exercise. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Sources in the govt indicated that unlike Census 2011 when it took almost a couple of years for the final population data to be published at the national, state, district and taluk levels, complete with the gender-wise break-up, govt estimates that the time lag between completion of Census in early March 2027 and release of final population data could be as little as nine months. Govt had recently announced March 1, 2027, as the new reference date for the upcoming Census. Though due to start in 2020, the Covid pandemic forced the govt to put the decadal exercise on hold. Census enumerators to use app to collect data Census 2027 will be held in two phases - the house-listing phase in 2026, followed by population enumeration phase in Feb 2027. For the first time, Census data will be collected digitally, using mobile phone apps in 16 languages (Hindi, English and 14 regional languages). These apps are designed to be simple and user-friendly for both the enumerators and citizens, since the latter will also have the option to self-enumerate, the sources said. Enumerators will no longer have to carry bulky paper schedules to the field. With tech use, data to be ready instantly The Census schedules will contain mostly pre-coded responses. On the mobile apps, various options would be available from the dropdown menu. The apps provide a fetching facility to go to a pre-filled Census house record and permit editing the same. The applications will reduce the burden of preparing abstracts, summaries and duplication of other associated work. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now With the help of mobile apps and intelligent character recognition (ICR) data processing mostly used to organise unstructured data, the entire data will be instantly ready for processing without extra logistics of schedules. For the first time, a separate code directory will be provided for enabling easy data collection in respect of several questions asked in the second phase of Census (population enumeration). For questions involving descriptive/non-numeric entries, a separate code directory containing possible responses and codes for each possible answer has been prepared. In tune with digital census, a census management and monitoring system (CMMS) portal has been developed by the Office of RGI for smooth conduct, management and monitoring of the exercise.
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Census to pave way for nationwide delimitation
NEW DELHI: Population data returned by the upcoming 'Census 2027', due to begin on April 1, 2026, will pave the way for a countrywide delimitation of Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies, as the March 1, 2027 reference date makes it "the first Census to be held after 2026". However, the chances of delimitation being completed in time for the 2029 general election appear bleak, given that the final population data may take time to be published. The final population data for Census 2011 was published almost two years after release of the provisional data in March-end 2011. Even with a 'digital' Census - which is expected to facilitate early release of tables - there may be a considerable time lag between completion of the exercise in March 2027 and availability of the final population count to enable initiation of the delimitation process. The home ministry on Thursday took to X to explain the delay in conducting the Census, put on hold five years ago due to the Covid outbreak, stating that hiring lakhs of school teachers as enumerators would have immensely disrupted primary education already hit by the pandemic.
Hindustan Times
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Govt finally announces long- postponed census
The Union government said on Wednesday that the long-delayed census will be carried out in two phases before March 1 2027, announcing a crucial exercise that will enumerate caste for the first time since independence and likely become the base for landmark processes such as delimitation and women's reservation. A statement from the Union home ministry said the reference date – a cut off date when population of a country is usually declared as of a specific day or date –for the 2027 census will be March 1. For the Union Territory of Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be October 1, 2026. 'It has been decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with enumeration of castes,' the statement said. The official headcount, and the houselisting process that precedes it, are expected to be completed by March 1, 2027 but it might take up to another three years for the numbers to be finalised and released, said an official aware of the matter. 'The process of census begins with the issuance of this notification,' said the official quoted above. In 2011, the last time the census was conducted, the entire process of houselisting and enumeration was completed before the reference date of March 1, 2011. The Census 2011 was conducted in two phases — Houselisting and Housing Census between 1st April 2010 to 30th September 2010 and Population Enumeration from 9th February to 28th February 2011. But this time, the census is expected to be conducted digitally and data collected through handheld devices, potentially trimming the time required for collating and sanitising data. The ministry further said that the notification for the intent of conducting the population census with these reference dates will be published in the official gazette, tentatively on June 16 as per section 3 of the Census Act 1948. The census forms an important node of policy making in India as it is the principal source of official socioeconomic and demographic data that forms the basis for government schemes, policies, and planning. But the 2027 census has assumed more importance because it is being held after a decade-and-a-half and will also officially confirm India's status as the world's most-populous nation. It will enumerate caste for the first time since the 1931 census, a politically explosive exercise that will have sweeping socioeconomic ramifications and possibly lead to an expansion of caste-based quotas in jobs and education, likely breaching the 50% mark mandated in a landmark 1992 Supreme Court judgment. The census might also be the basis for conducting the delimitation exercise for Lok Sabha seats, another controversial process that threatens to drive a wedge between northern and southern India, as well as potentially usher in the reservation of a third of all seats in national and state legislatures for women. After the notification for the census is issued on June 16, a key precondition will have to be first fulfilled – freezing of administrative boundaries, which is expected starting January 1, 2026. According to the officer cited above, once the notification is issued and the final date is decided, the first phase of the exercise is expected to begin as early as March or April 2026. The first phase involves house listing – wherein details of all buildings, permanent or temporary, are noted with their type, amenities, and assets. The National Population Register (NPR), a biometric database of all 'usual residents' in India, which is updated every five years, will be updated along with the census. This process is likely to be completed in six to eight months. The second phase - called population enumeration (PE), in which more detailed information on each individual residing in the country, Indian national or otherwise is to be noted along with their caste – is likely to be conducted around February 2027 and conclude before March 1, 2027. The home ministry statement said in 2011, the house listing process was done between April 1 and September 30, 2010, and the population enumeration was done between February 9 and 28, with the reference date of March 1, 2011. For the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the population enumeration was conducted during September 11 to 30, 2010 with the reference date as October 1, 2010. Census 2021 was also proposed to be conducted in two phases in a similar manner with phase I during April-September 2020 and second phase in February 2021. 'All the preparations for the first phase of the Census to be conducted in 2021 were completed and field work was scheduled to begin in some states/UTs from April 1, 2020. However, due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic across the country, the census work was postponed,' the ministry statement added. A second officer aware of the exercise said, 'This is an exercise to count the numbers and put it out. The data that will come up is unlikely to lead to any policy shifts…or for inclusion or exclusion of any castes in any category'. 'The entire process will be completed in three years. There will be no blocs of castes to choose from. People will have to spell out their castes to the enumerators. The census form will not identify any caste as OBCs,' he added. The Congress said there was no reason to delay the exercise for another 23 months. 'The Modi government is capable only of generating headlines, not meeting deadlines,' said Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh on X. In April, the high-powered cabinet committee on political affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that caste will be a part of the decennial census. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) credited the government's social justice agenda but the Opposition said its sustained pressure forced the administration to buckle on a sensitive issue that was a key node of the 2024 general election campaign. Bihar, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have conducted caste surveys in the last three years, while Karnataka is mulling the release of data of a survey conducted in 2015. All states were ruled by non-BJP dispensations when the surveys were done. The census is the 16th such exercise since the British rule era. In March this year, the Union home ministry had informed a parliamentary standing committee that the preparatory activities for the decadal exercise have been completed. The first synchronous census in India was held in 1881. Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every 10 years. It is the biggest source of information on demographic, socioeconomic and other parameters of the entire population of India. According to officials, a mobile app for collection of data and a census portal for management and monitoring of various census-related activities has already been developed. The office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner had prepared around three dozen questions to be asked to the citizens. The questions include whether a family has a telephone, internet connection, mobile or smartphone, bicycle, scooter or motorcycle or moped and whether they own a car, jeep or a van. The citizens will be asked questions such as the kind of cereal they consume in the household, the main source of drinking water, the main source of lighting, access to latrine, type of latrine, wastewater outlet, availability of bathing facility, availability of kitchen and LPG/PNG connection, main fuel used for cooking and availability of radio, transistor and television. 'It's a positive development that the Census is finally going to start. My only concern is that since it is a caste-based Census, it should be carefully implemented. Population census should set up an expert committee to look into all the aspects related to castes,' said Sukhadeo Thorat, former chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
