Prelims: Current events of national importance | Governance
Why in News?
The category "beggars and vagrants, etc." has been officially removed from the list of non-economic activities in the census 2027, placing individuals in this classification under the broader category of "others".
Key Highlights
- Omission of Beggars Data
- The decision stems from the severe under-reporting in past census cycles caused by social stigma.
- In Census 2011, only ~3.8 lakh individuals declared themselves under this head (down from 6.3 lakh in 2001 and 5.4 lakh in 1991).
- Future census tables will no longer offer separate demographic, religious, or age-wise distributions for beggars and vagrants.
- Reason for Migration - Added "natural calamities" as an official reason for human migration, alongside traditional parameters (work, business, education, marriage, moved after birth, and moved with household).
- Parental Particulars- Introduced fields capturing the date of birth, place of birth, and religion of both the father and mother.
- These fields are filled if parents are not living in the same household or are deceased.
- This assists in analyzing inter-faith marriage trends, conversion patterns, and citizenship verification under the Citizenship Act.
- Voluntary Data Collection- Asks for details regarding Aadhaar, Voter ID, Passport, and mobile numbers on a voluntary basis.
- Enumerators are trained to leave these fields blank if respondents express privacy concerns.
About the Census of India
- Constitutional Framework - Conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990.
- Nodal Ministry - Executed by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (ORGI) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Union Subject- Census is listed under Entry 69 of the Union List in the 7th Schedule of the Constitution of India.
- Digital Census- Census 2027 represents India's first fully digital census, allowing self-enumeration options alongside enumerator-led data collection via mobile applications.
Reference
Times of India |Census 2027 will not record data on begging
