India has begun a major effort to count its entire population, including all 1.4 billion people, in a census that was first postponed due to the pandemic and then delayed due to administrative issues.
Over the next year, more than three million people will go door-to-door in big cities and remote villages, enumerating every household and resident in India and collecting data on their social and economic characteristics.
The survey will include caste for the first time in nearly 100 years, a controversial decision that some say could further entrench divisions.
The final numbers won’t be known until next year, but they underscore the enormity of the exercise, which seeks to capture the contours of one of the world’s most diverse and complex societies.
Here’s what you need to know:
India is supposed to count its population once every 10 years, but due to the coronavirus pandemic and other administrative obstacles, it has been postponed to 2021 for the first time in 16 years.
The last official census in 2011 put India’s population at just over 1.2 billion. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs estimates that it will now overtake China as the world’s most populous country with 1.4 billion people.
Demographics have also undergone epoch-making changes. Currently, more than 40% of India’s residents are under the age of 25, and according to United Nations data, India’s estimated median age in 2023 will be just 28 years old, nearly a decade younger than China.
This represents what economists call a “demographic dividend,” or the potential for faster economic growth due to favorable changes in the age structure of the population.
The census will be conducted in two phases and will cover all 26 states and union territories of India.
First, authorities will collect details about the status of households across India, their facilities and all available assets.
The second phase, scheduled for February 2027, will collect data on demographics, wages, education, migration, and fertility.
According to a government announcement, the workers will visit approximately 640,000 villages and 10,000 towns.
Both stages require staff (mainly school teachers and government officials) to go door-to-door to gather information. For the first time ever, authorities will submit this data electronically through a mobile app.
Although India is rapidly rising through the ranks of the global economy, with a nearly $3.5 trillion economy that is the fifth largest and fastest growing in the world, India’s prosperity is highly concentrated and poverty remains widespread.
Against this backdrop, the upcoming census will provide important insights into the daily lives of the population.
When the British colonial apparatus first attempted to count India’s population in 1872, the survey asked a list of 17 questions covering basic indicators such as age, religion, and occupation. This year, 33 questions will be asked in the first phase alone.
Authorities will assess basic living conditions by collecting data on housing materials, home ownership, and access to essential facilities such as clean drinking water, sanitation, and cooking fuel.
We also want to know whether these households have an internet connection, TV, radio, or smartphone, and what type of car they own.
For the first time since 1931, India will count caste, a 1,000-year-old social stratification system, in its census.
Its inclusion is controversial, sparking debate over whether counting it will uplift disadvantaged groups or further entrench divisions.
The caste system has its roots in Hindu scripture and historically divided people into classes at birth, which determined their occupations, where they lived, and who they could marry. Today, many non-Hindus people in India also consider themselves to belong to a specific caste, including Muslims, Christians, Jains, and Buddhists.
India has quotas that reserve government jobs and school admissions for people from lower castes, and counting these groups is seen by some as important to ensure political representation and the welfare of these groups.
But not everyone agrees, and critics say the country should try to shed these labels rather than formalize them.
