Economists, social scientists call for delinking of Census 2021, NPR

They said that while Census is an important exercise and helps centre, state governments make and implement welfare schemes effectively, the danger is in the widespread public distrust on NPR

Concerned over the linking of National Population Register (NPR) and Census 2021, 190 economists and social scientists have signed a document demanding that both be delinked. Signatories include Maitreesh Ghatak of London School of Economics, S Irfan Habib, Jayati Ghosh of Jawaharlal Nehru University, among others. 

These eminent economists and social scientists said that while Census is an important exercise and helps centre and state governments make and implement welfare schemes effectively, the widespread public distrust on NPR is dangerous. 

Here is the full text and the list of signatories:

We are economists and social scientists who are deeply concerned about the major implications for the Indian statistical system, of the attempt to combine data collection for the 2021 Census of India with that for the proposed National Population Register. 

The Census of India, which provides a basic household and population listing based on anonymous data, is an essential requirement for the country and provides the statistical basis for all assessments of the conditions of the population and for necessary social and economic policies. The Census data are also important in enabling central and state governments to exercise their basic functions and meet their responsibilities to the people. It is therefore essential to ensure that the exercise of data collection for Census 2021 is absolutely safe, comprehensive and uncontaminated by any other factors.

However, there is a real danger that the concerns around the National Population Register and the fears that are growing among substantial sections that investigators can determine whether a respondent’s citizenship is “doubtful”. This possibility has already led to widespread public distrust and suspicion about the NPR, and it is not at all clear that there are any benefits from the NPR at the present juncture. Conducting NPR along with the Census also violates Clause 15 of The Census Act 1948 that bars anyone from accessing “any book, register or record made by a census-officer in the discharge of his duty”. It also violates the provision in the same clause that “no entry in any such book, register, record or schedule shall be admissible as evidence in any civil proceeding other than a prosecution under this Act”. 

We, therefore, demand that, in order to preserve the integrity of Census 2021, it should be completely delinked from any NPR exercise. In any case, any attempt at data collection for the NPR should be abandoned at present. 

1. A. K. Shivakumar, Economist, New Delhi
2. A. V. Jose, Economist, Thiruvananthapuram
3. Aasha Kapur Mehta, former Professor, IIPA New Delhi
4. Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi
5. Abhijit Sen, Former Member, Planning Commission, New Delhi
6. Achin Chakraborty, Institute for Development Studies Kolkata 
7. Achin Vanaik, former Professor, Delhi University
8. Aditya Bhattacharjea, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University
9. Ajit Karnik, Middlesex University, Dubai
10. Alex Thomas, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
11. Amelia Correa, St Andrews’ College, Mumbai
12. Amit Basole, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
13. Amit Bhaduri, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
14. Amiya Kumar Bagchi, Institute for Development Studies, Kolkata
15. Anand Chakravarti, former Professor, University of Delhi
16. Aneesh Correa, Pratham, Mumbai
17. Anil Bhatti, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
18. Anirban Mukherjee, University of Kolkata
19. Anita Banerji, University of Delhi
20. Anita Rampal, Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, New Delhi
21. Anjana Mangalagiri, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi
22. Anjana Thampi, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonepat
23. Anup K. Sinha, former Professor, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
24. Anuradha Chenoy, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
25. Arindam Banerjee, Ambedkar University Delhi
26. Arindam Dasgupta, Professor, Goa Institute of Management
27. Arjun Jayadev, Professor, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
28. Ashima Sood, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad
29. Ashok Kotwal, Vancouver School of Economics
30. Ashwini Deshpande, Professor, Ashoka University, Sonepat
31. Atul Sood, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
32. Avinash Mishra, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
33. Awanish Kumar, St Xavier’s College, Mumbai
34. Balbir Singh Butola, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
35. Balveer Arora, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Multilevel Federalism, New Delhi
36. Balwinder Singh Tikana, Professor, University of Patiala
37. Barbara Harriss-White, Oxford University
38. Benny Kuruvilla, Focus on the Global South, New Delhi
39. Bharat Ramaswami, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi
40. Bibhas Saha, University of Durham, U.K.
41. Biswajit Dhar, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
42. C. P. Chandrasekhar, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
43. Chandan Mukherjee, Professor, Ambedkar University Delhi
44. Chiranjib Sen, Azim Premji Foundation, Bengaluru
45. Chirashree Dasgupta, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
46. D. Narasimha Reddy, former Professor, University of Hyderabad
47. D. Narayana, formerly Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, Kerala
48. D. Raghunandan, Delhi Science Forum
49. Debabrata Pal, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
50. Debashish Bhattacharjee, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
51. Debraj Ray, Professor, New York University, USA
52. Deepak Malghan, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
53. Deepankar Basu, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
54. Dilip Mookherjee, Boston University, USA
55. Dinesh Abrol, former Professor, NISTADS, New Delhi
56. Dipa Sinha, Ambedkar University Delhi
57. Gita Sen, former Professor, Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru
58. Guglielmo Chiudi, former Professor Sapienza University of Rome
59. Harsh Mander, Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi
60. Hema Swaminathan, Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru
61. Himanshu, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
62. Imrana Qadeer, Distinguished Professor, Council for Social Development, New Delhi
63. Indira Chandrasekhar, Publisher, New Delhi
64. Indira Hirway, Centre for Development Alternatives, Ahmedabad
65. Indraneel Dasgupta, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
66. Ishan Anand, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonepat
67. Ishita Mukhopadhyay, University of Kolkata
68. J. Mohan Rao, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
69. Janaki Abraham, University of Delhi
70. Jayan Jose Thomas, Member, Kerala State Planning Board
71. Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
72. Jayati Sarkar, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research Mumbai
73. Jens Lerche, University of London
74. Jesim Pais, SSER New Delhi
75. Joe Athialy, Centre for Financial Accountability, New Delhi
76. John Harriss, Professor, University of London
77. K. K. Kailash, University of Hyderabad
78. K. N. Harilal, Member State Planning Board, Kerala
79. K. Nagaraj, Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai
80. K. P. Kannan, former Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thurvananthapuram
81. K. T. Suresh, Social Analyst, New Delhi
82. K. V. Ramaswamy, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai
83. K. Velupillai, former Professor, University of Trento, Italy
84. Kalyani Raghunathan, Economist, New Delhi
85. Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
86. Kamala Menon, Educationist, New Delhi.
87. M. Vijayabaskar, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai
88. Madhav K. Datar, Indian Banks Association
89. Mahalaya Chatterjee, Professor, Kolkata University
90. Maitreesh Ghatak, London School of Economics
91. Malini Chakravarty, Economist, New Delhi
92. Mampi Bose, Economist, New Delhi
93. Manisha Chakrabarty, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
94. Manisha Jain, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai
95. Manoranjan Mohanty, former Professor, University of Delhi
96. Meena Gopal, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
97. Mohan Rao, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
98. Mridul Eapen, Member, Kerala State Planning Board
99. Mritiunjoy Mohanty, IIM Kolkata
100. N. D. Jayaprakash, Delhi Science Forum
101. Nalini Nayak, former Professor, Delhi University
102. Nandini Manjrekar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
103. Nandini Sundar, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University
104. Neera Chandoke, former Professor, Delhi University
105. Niladri Sekhar Dhar, ADRI, Patna
106. Nivedita Menon, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
107. P. Vijayshankar, Samaj Pragati Sahayog
108. Padmini Swaminathan, Independent Researcher, Chennai
109. Parag Waknis, Ambedkar University Delhi
110. Partha Ghosh, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
111. Partha Saha, Ambedkar University Delhi
112. Parthapratim Pal, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
113. Peter de Souza, Centre for Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
114. Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
115. Pradipta Bandopadhyay, Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata
116. Prasenjit Bose, Economist, Kolkata
117. Praveen Jha, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
118. Protiva Kundu, Economist, New Delhi
119. Pulapre Balakrishnan, Ashoka University, Sonepat
120. Pulin Nayak, former Professor, Delhi School of Economkcs, Delhi University
121. R. Nagaraj, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai
122. R. Ramakumar, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
123. Ragupathy Venkatachalam, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
124. Rahul Roy, Professor, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi
125. Rajendran Narayanan, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
126. Rajesh Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
127. Rajiv Jha, University of Delhi
128. Rajni Palriwala, Delhi University
129. Rakesh Basant, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
130. Rama Baru, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
131. Ramana Murthy, University of Hyderabad
132. Rammanohar Reddy, Editor, The India Forum
133. Ranjit Nair, independent scholar, New Delhi
134. Ratan Khasnabis, former Professor, University of Kolkata
135. Ravinder Jha, Delhi University
136. Ravinder Kaur, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi
137. Reetika Khera, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
138. Renu Khanna, Sahaj, Vadodara
139. Ritu Dewan, former Professor, University of Mumbai
140. Ritu Priya, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
141. Rohit Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
142. Roma Chatterji, University of Delhi
143. Romar Correa, Former RBI Professor of Economics, University of Mumbai
144. Ritu Menon, Publisher, New Delhi
145. Runa Sarkar, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
146. S. Irfan Habib, former Professor, NUEPA, New Delhi
147. S. Krishnaswamy, Former Professor, Madurai Kamaraj University
148. S. Krithi, Tata Institute of Social Studies Hyderabad
149. S. Subramanian, former Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies
150. Sachidanand Sinha, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
151. Samira Nadkarni, St Andrews’ College, Mumbai
152. Santosh Verma, Tata Institute of Social Studies, Mumbai
153. Sarmishtha Pal, University of Surrey, U.K.
154. Sashi Kumar, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai
155. Saumya Chakrabarti, Viswabharati University, Shantiniketan
156. Sebastian Morris, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
157. Shiney Chakraborty, Institute of Social Studies Trust, New Delhi
158. Shiva Sikdar, University of Surrey, U.K.
159. Shruti Ambast, Economist, New Delhi
160. Smita Gupta, Economist, New Delhi
161. Snehashish Bhattacharya, South Asian University, New Delhi 
162. Sona Mitra, Economist, New Delhi
163. Sripad Motiram, University of Massachusetts at Boston, USA
164. Stefano Zambelli, University of Trento, Italy.
165. Subhanil Chowdhury, Institute for Development Studies Kolkata
166. Subrat Das, Economist, New Delhi
167. Sudha Vasan, University of Delhi
168. Sudip Chaudhuri, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram
169. Sudipta Bhattacharya, Viswabharati University, Shantiniketan
170. Sugata Ghosh, Brunel University, London
171. Sumangala Damodaran, Ambedkar University Delhi
172. Sumeet Gulati, University of British Columbia, Canada
173. Sumit Sarkar, former Professor, Delhi University
174. Sunanda Sen, Former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
175. Surajit Das, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
176. Surajit Mazumdar, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
177. Sushil Khanna, former Professor, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
178. Tanika Chakraborty, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
179. Tanika Sarkar, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
180. Taposik Banerjee, Ambedkar University Delhi
181. Uma Chakravarti, former Professor, Delhi University
182. Utsa Patnaik, Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
183. Vamsi Vakulabharanam, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
184. Venkatesh Athreya, former Professor of Economics, Chennai
185. Vibhuti Patel, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
186. Vickram Krishna, privacy and technology expert, Mumbai
187. Vikas Rawal, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
188. Yoshifumi Usami, Tokyo University, Japan
189. Yuko Nikaido, Musashi University, Tokyo, Japan
190. Zoya Hasan, Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi