The meeting will be conducted by the Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, at the Ambedkar Bhawan in New Delhi
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday conducted an important meeting at the Ambedkar Bhawan in New Delhi regarding Census-NPR, where the chief secretaries of all states were expected to attend. However, West Bengal had notified that it will not be attending the meeting.
Kerala, however, attended the meeting. Principal Secretary (General administration department, Kerala) KR Jyothilal had said that Kerala will be attending the meeting called by MHA, adding that Kerala will seek suggestions regarding the training and appointment process for Census and NPR from the Director of Census.
The meeting was chaired by the Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, and Union Home Secretary AK Bhalla. The meeting was conducted on the National Population Register (NPR) and the Census 2021, which will be held in two phases this year.
The first phase of Census 2021 will begin from April 1 and continue till September 30. This data will compile household-specific information like who is the head of the house, how many people live in the house, what are the facilities in the house, etc. 30 lakh employees will be assigned for this work, last time the counting officer got Rs 5,500. This time the counting officer will include house listing, census, and National Population Register, so he will get Rs 25,000.
In the second phase of the Census 2021, which will begin in February 2021, the questions will be individual and specific.
The house listing process will have 34 questions covering 31 topics. According to the reports of the Indian Census 2011, the population of India was 1,210,854,977.
Among the changes in the personal questions this year, in the 'Gender' category - a 'Transgender' option has been added to the pre-existing 'Male and 'Female' options. Also, in the Census 2021, there was a question regarding 'Toilet within the premise'. However, that has been replaced with a question inquiring 'Access to a toilet', which makes more sense. The enumerators will also ask whether the toilet is shared, exclusive for the family or public. In addition to these, availing of banking facilities will be asked in the second phase this time, unlike the Census 2011.
What is particularly remarkable though, is that for the first time ever, there will be a digital census as Census 2021 is all set to be digital, in which officers will be able to calculate data via mobile. There will also be a special app for census developed by the government which the officers can use by downloading on their mobile phones. Training will be done in four phases. National trainer, master trainer, field trainer and the enumerator will be given training at these four levels.
Even as uncertainty over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) looms across the country, the MHA has clarified that the Census data will not seek any documentary proofs. The spokesperson for the MHA said, "No documents would be asked by the enumerators for the NPR exercise. If the respondents want to present documents for verification, they are free to do so. There would be no compulsion from the side of the enumerators."
Earlier, the state governments had issued a re-notification regarding the NPR under their respective jurisdictions. However, only Kerala and West Bengal had notified the Centre asking it to reconsider it.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Representational Image")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}