Census

Adhikari-led Bengal Cabinet okays BSF fencing land transfer, Census rollout

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari chaired the first cabinet meeting on Monday and said his government has granted transfer of land to the BSF for erecting a fence along the Bangladesh border and approved immediate implementation of the Census exercise in the state. The meeting, attended by the five ministers sworn in so far, also decided to induct Bengal into multiple central government schemes, including the Ayushman Bharat health coverage programme. The Ayushman Bharat aims to provide cashless hospitalisation coverage of Rs 5,00,000 per family per year to poor and vulnerable families for secondary and tertiary healthcare services. "In the backdrop of steadily changing demography in Bengal's bordering districts, our cabinet has approved the beginning of the process of handing over necessary land to the BSF for setting up border fences. The Chief Secretary and the secretary of the state's land and land revenue department have been asked to complete the process of land ...

Census duty piles on the workload for government school teachers

Government school teachers across India are facing longer hours, safety concerns and mounting pressure as Census 2027 enumeration duties begin

Census 2027: Self-enumeration begins in Delhi; LG urges participation

Self-enumeration under Census 2027 began in the national capital on Friday, with many residents, including Lt Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu, completing the exercise on day one. Sandhu, in a post on X, said that the exercise officially began across all Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) wards and urged the residents to take part in the self-enumeration process and support the census. "Your participation plays an important role in shaping the future of our city and nation," he said in the post. This digital-first initiative gives citizens the power to directly submit their household details, helping ensure every resident is accurately counted. Reliable data is key to inclusive governance and a stronger, developed nation, the LG added. Self-enumeration exercise has already been completed in New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi Cantt areas, where houselisting and housing operations through door-to-door visits by enumerators are underway. All residents of MCD wards, irrespec

The delimitation dilemma: Democratic status may see further slide in India

There are no easy solutions to the conundrum. The US system favours small Alaska over Texas. The former has a fraction of Texas's population, but both have the same number of Senators

Delimitation in India: How it was done before and why it was paused

India once redrew constituencies regularly, but political concerns over population and regional balance led to a freeze that still shapes representation today

How delimitation could shift India's fiscal balance and growth model

Seat redistribution through delimitation could reshape India's fiscal balance, affecting how funds are distributed and how states negotiate resources

Women’s Reservation Act: How India is moving to finally implement it

After passing the Women’s Reservation Act in 2023, why is the 33% quota for women still not implemented? With the Union Cabinet clearing new Bills ahead of Parliament’s April 16 session

Asian surnames surge fastest among US last names, says Census Bureau

The most popular last names in the US might be unchanged from the previous decade, but Asian surnames were the fastest-growing at the start of this decade, the US Census Bureau said Tuesday. Smith, Johnson, Williams, Brown and Jones remained the top five last names in the United States in 2020, as they were in 2010, according to a tally from the last US head count. Most of the fastest-growing last names from 2010 to 2020 were Asian, according to the Census Bureau. The top three of those were Zhang, Liu and Wang. In the 21st century, Asians have been the fastest-growing of the country's largest racial or ethnic groups, and they now make up 7% of the US population. Rounding out the top 10 most common last names in 2020 were Garcia, Miller, Rodriguez, Davis and Martinez. The only change from 2010 was Rodriguez, which jumped ahead of Davis for the No. 8 spot. There were 7.8 million unique last names, according to the Census Bureau. The Census Bureau has tallied counts of the most comm

Constitutional Amendment Bill proposes to expand LS seats from 543 to 850

The Bill proposes to amend Article 81 to allow for not more than 815 members from states and up to 35 from Union Territories, taking the Lok Sabha's total strength to 850

Census 2027 begins in Uttarakhand; Guv, CM enter info via self-enumeration

The first phase of 'Census 2027' formally began in Uttarakhand on Friday with Governor Lt Gen (retd) Gurmit Singh and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami registering their details digitally through the 'self-enumeration' facility. Under the program, house listing and house enumeration work has begun in the state. For the first time under 'Digital India', citizens have been given the opportunity to enter their information online before a census officer visits their homes. Officials said that this facility of self-enumeration will be available from April 10 to April 24 and after this, from April 25 to May 24, the census workers will go door to door to collect the data. On this occasion, the governor stated that the census is not merely a collection of data, but a cornerstone of the state's development. He appealed to citizens to actively participate in this important campaign through self-enumeration, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the data. The CM said that accurate census

SC rejects plea to stop caste Census, slams petitioner for language used

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to stop caste Census, and slammed the petitioner for the language used in the PIL. "'Aapne apne petition me badtameezi ki bhasa likhi hai. Aapne kisse apna petition likhwaya hai' (You have written indecent language in your petition. Who has written your petition?)," a visibly angry Chief Justice Surya Kant told the petitioner, who was appearing in person. "Aap kahan se aisi bhasa likhte ho petition me (From where you write such language in your petition)," the CJI, who was heading the bench which also comprised Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, told the petitioner. The bench dismissed the plea, which also sought a direction to the Centre to formulate policies to provide economic incentives to families with a single child. On February 2, the top court had refused to entertain a separate PIL questioning the procedure to be adopted to record, classify and verify the caste data of citizens in th

Census 2027: More than 572,000 households avail self-enumeration facility

More than 5.72 lakh households have availed the self-enumeration facility so far during the first phase of the Census 2027, the Registrar General of India (RGI) said on Friday. This reflects the growing participation in the digital initiative of the Census, it said. "By choosing to provide their details online, these families have embraced a faster, smarter and a more convenient way to contribute to nation-building," the RGI said in a post on X. The self-enumeration facility is available to citizens in states and Union territories which will start physical Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO) from April 16. The Census 2027 kick-started on April 1 in eight states and Union territories, including New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi Cantt areas of the national capital, with a 15-day self-enumeration window -- a first in the history of the massive exercise. A specially developed portal for self-enumeration has been opened for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Karnataka,

India's first digital census: How to do self-enumeration? A step-by-step guide

India’s Census 2027 introduces self-enumeration for the first time. Here’s a clear, step-by-step guide, key dates, and what it means for you.

Census 2027 in Telangana fully digital, first phase from May 11 to June 9

Director of Census Operations in Telangana, Bharati Hollikeri, on Thursday said Census 2027 would be held in digital mode in contrast to the paper-based exercise conducted until 2011. The first phase of the exercise, involving house listing and housing census, would be conducted from May 11 to June 9, while the second phase would be taken up in February 2027, she said. As many as 88,000 personnel, including enumerators and supervisors, would be involved in the census in Telangana, though about 93,000 to 94,000 employees are being trained for the mammoth exercise. "It has a lot of uniqueness when compared to the previous censuses. When you talk about technology adoption, for the first time, we are going to enumerate in digital mode. Until the 2011 census, enumeration was paper-based," she told PTI here. She said various digital tools have now been developed, including the Census Management Monitoring System (CMMS), Self-Enumeration Portal and HLO app, which enumerators will use to .

Census 2027: Step-by-step guide to register for self-enumeration process

India begins its first digital Census with a new self-enumeration option. Here is a detailed guide on how to register for the process online

India's first digital census begins; President, PM participate in exercise

Prime Minister Modi also filled his self-enumeration details in the presence of the officials

Census 2027 will inform policy, but it could also reshape India's politics

The Census exercise will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will be a house-listing and housing Census, which will be conducted between April and September over a period of 30 days

Census 2027 Phase 1 begins today: Here's all you need to know about it

Census 2027 Phase 1 begins today, marking India's first digital headcount with caste data and self-enumeration. The long-delayed exercise will be conducted in two phases across the country

Census 2027 begins today, to be conducted digitally for first time

It is India's 16th Census and eighth after Independence

Phase one of Census 2027 to have 33 questions for citizens, says govt

The government has notified a set of 33 questions to be asked during the first phase of Census 2027 -- Housing Listing and Housing Operations (HLO) -- a month-long exercise to be conducted between April 1 and September 30 as per schedules finalised by states and Union Territories, a top official said on Monday. The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, said, according to a January 22 notification, enumerators will collect details such as building number (municipal or local authority or census number), census house number, and the predominant materials used for the floor, walls, and roof. They will also record the use and condition of the house and assign a household number. They will also ask about the total number of usual residents in the household, name and sex of the head of the household, whether the head belongs to a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or other category, ownership status of the house, number of dwelling rooms and the number