Editorial: People count

Editorial: People count

Current Affairs for 23rd September, 2023

Editorial: People count

• Census is a systematic collection of demographic, social, and economic data of a population at a given time.
  It provides information on the size, distribution, and characteristics of a population.
• It is a decennial exercise, conducted by the Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner, under the Home Ministry. It is conducted under the provisions of Census Act, 1948.
• The first Census was conducted in 1881, by W.C. Plowden, Census Commissioner of India.
• The population census is a Union subject under Article 246 of India Constitution.
  Union list (7th Schedule)- Entry 69.
• Census is important as welfare schemes such as NFSA and PDS depend on population estimates. The census data is also used as a frame for various sample surveys, apart from revealing several features of Indian population, such as literacy levels, caste status, spoken languages, occupation, migration status etc.
• It conducted in two phases– House listing, and Population enumeration