Govt extends census commissioner Mritunjay Narayan's tenure till 2026

The central deputation of Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, currently serving as Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, has been extended till August 2026, paving the way for him to lead the team to carry out the much-delayed decadal census of India.

Narayan is a 1995 batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre and he is holding the key post under the Ministry of Home Affairs since 2020.

"The President is pleased to extend the central deputation tenure of Shri Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, IAS (UP:1995), Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Ministry of Home Affairs beyond 06.12.2024 for a period up to 04.08.2026 or until further orders whichever is earlier. The Headquarters of Shri Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, IAS (UP:1995) will be New Delhi," according to an official notification.

The house listing phase of the census and the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR) were scheduled to be carried out across the country from April 1 to September 30, 2020 but were postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The census operation continues to be on hold and the government has not yet announced the new schedule.

The government is expected to announce the schedule for the much-delayed exercise soon.

On the probability of starting the delayed decadal census, Shah had said in August that "it will be carried out at an appropriate time. Once decided, I will announce how it will be done".