Overdue Census

The delay is disturbing

Among the many priorities before the new government, conducting the decennial Census demands urgency. The Census, which was originally due in 2021, was postponed until further orders owing to the pandemic. It is now over two years since the pandemic receded but there appears to be little sign of progress on this front. Orders for states to freeze the administrative boundaries of districts, tehsils, and towns and so on, a prerequisite for conducting the Census, have been postponed nine times. It has now been reported that a decision on the exercise has not yet been taken. Given