The concerns over the Census questions

The questions to be asked to every individual during the population enumeration phase of the 2027 Census were notified by the Central government last month. In a significant departure from the past, a number of personal details, which cannot be used to generate any useful statistics, are being sought. This prompts a look at the individual questions, their possible uses and the implications of their inclusion in the Census.

The new questions in Census 2027 ask respondents to provide the details of the parents of every individual and spouses of the married persons in the household, nationality as declared, permanent residential address, place of COVID 19 vaccination, total number of bank accounts, mobile number, Aadhaar number and Voter ID number (if available), Passport number (if an Indian passport holder), and driving license availability.

The United Nations defines a population census as, “the total process of planning, collecting, processing, analysing, disseminating and evaluating demographic, economic and social data at the smallest geographic level pertaining, at a specified time, to all persons in a country or in a well-delimited part of a country”. It is evident from this definition that a census is viewed as an exercise to generate statistics for the use of the government in particular and the society in general.

One of the essential principles of official statistics is confidentiality of individual information. Principle 6 of the United Nations’ Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics states, “the individual data collected by statistical agencies for statistical compilation, whether they refer to natural or legal persons, are to be strictly confidential and used exclusively for statistical purposes.” India has adopted these principles.

As the Census is used to generate data useful for policy and planning purposes, information provided by an individual is used only for compiling the relevant statistics. The individual’s name has no relevance in the exercise, except to identify them during enumeration. Names have merely been placeholders and have not been present in Census databases. In fact, there have been no attempts in the Indian Censuses to computerise names at all. There are countries that include the name and provide access to past Census data for genealogical studies. For example, past data from the U.S. Census can be accessed 72 years after the Census exercise. There is no such rule or policy in India.

Now, respondents will have to provide the names of every individual in the household, along with those of their parents. This will be a tall order for respondents from institutional households, such as wardens of hostels, old-age homes, jails etc. A large number of children are now studying away from home, living in hostels, as paying guests, etc. February, being towards the end of the academic year, means they may not be at home. So, they would not be eligible for enumeration at their normal households. Even in normal households, the respondent may not know the details regarding the grandparents who may be living with them.

COVID -19 vaccination is now an old story. After the pandemic subsided, people have not been taking any vaccination and there have been no suggestions from the government to the people to get vaccinated. In view of this, it is highly doubtful whether information on the place of vaccination, which could have been as much as five years ago, could be put to any meaningful use.

Information on mobile number, Aadhaar number and voter ID number are being asked ‘if available’. Also required is the passport number for those holding Indian passports. The meaning of the phrase ‘if available’ is not clear. A person may have one or more of these identifiers. However, it is possible that the respondent may not have these numbers, possibly with the exception of the mobile number.

The question is whether ‘if available’ refers to availability with the concerned member of the household or with the respondent. If the phrase is interpreted as availability with the respondent, then it will not be available to the Census as a large proportion of the respondents are likely to be the housewives or elderly parents who may not keep these details of every member of the household. A similar problem arises with institutional households.

These numbers are not data items that could be used for any useful tabulations, except to determine whether these numbers are available. It is impossible to visualise more than 30 lakh Census enumerators spending time with the households to correctly record these numbers. The enumerators may not have the time and patience to obtain the relevant records and collect the information. Respondents in institutional households would find it impossible to provide the information, as they may not have these records with them. Even the individuals living there may have left their records back home. In normal households, visitors and domestic servants living for the entire duration of the Census enumeration period are to be enumerated. Would the respondent be able to obtain these details from them? If the respondents in domestic households with visitors/servants eligible for enumeration there and those in institutional households misuse the information, is there any protection for the individual, as the respondent is not a Census functionary?

Nationality as declared may also not serve any useful purpose. Illegal immigrants may declare that they are Indian nationals. After trying this question in the 1951 and 1961 censuses, it was discarded from 1971 onwards. It is worth noting here that after a lot of debates, the U.S. Census decided not to include the question on citizenship in the 2020 Census.

The total number of bank accounts held by each person is useful for preparing a distribution of persons by the number of bank accounts. For those with bank accounts, this information can probably be obtained by tabulating the number of accounts against each PAN, which is necessary to open a bank account. If the plan is only to determine the number of persons without any bank account, then it is enough to ask whether the person has a bank account. It is difficult for a simple schoolteacher appointed as an enumerator to ask the question on the number of bank accounts and get a correct answer from the upper-class respondents, who may not even be ready to answer the simpler questions.

While preparing for the 2021 Census there were proposals for updating the National Population Register (NPR) during the Census exercise. However, several States objected to it. The Census is conducted by enumerators appointed by the State government under section 4(2) of the Census Act, 1948. Hence, the State governments may have the right to refuse the use of their staff to do any work that is not part of the Census. The Citizenship Act does not mention anything about the State government’s role in the preparation of the NPR.

The information on the parents of individuals, permanent address, nationality, etc is very useful for preparing/updating the NPR, which is to form the basis for preparing the National Register of Citizens. It appears that the collection of such information through the Census questionnaire, though it does not aid the generation of any additional statistics, is aimed at the preparation/updating of the NPR. However, including such information in the Census questionnaire and extracting it later to share it to another organisation within the government may violate the principle of confidentiality.

There is no objection to preparing a population register or a citizen register, and its importance and uses are well recognised. However, collecting information required for creating an NPR should be done through a process that is transparent and has legal basis, without jeopardising the Census.

With 40 questions, many requiring descriptive answers, the time taken for a household is likely to result in respondent fatigue. The respondent is required to answer similar questions for every individual in the household. This may result in the respondent becoming uninterested and potentially giving casual replies.

Furthermore, by adding questions that require recording the names and addresses, the workload of the enumerator has increased significantly.

By loading the Census with questions that are of no use for generating statistics, the quality of Census data may be seriously affected.

(K. Narayanan Unni is a retired officer from the Indian Statistical Service)