Why Census 2027 matters for development, democracy and representation

Record turnouts in the recently concluded Assembly elections have brought satisfaction to all those who believe in the ultimate say of numbers and counts in a democracy. The only concern amid this celebration is whether everyone who needs to be counted has actually been included. This sense of urgency should equally drive the ongoing Census, the mother of all counts.

The world’s largest-ever count of people within a national geography got underway on April 1, with the commencement of the first of the two phases of Census 2027. The first phase will gather nationwide information on the conditions, amenities, and assets of every household. The second will collect critical demographic and socio-economic information, including details on education, migration, fertility, and, of course, caste.

Seriously overdue

The eighth Census since Independence comes after a gap of 15 years instead of the usual 10, owing first to the COVID-19 disruption and later to the Lok Sabha elections. India has certainly been missing an updated demographic database. Public and private planning alike have had to rely either on the 2011 Census or on informed extrapolations from it.

There are other credible surveys, including five rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), but these largely focus on health and nutrition. The World Bank and various UN agencies have also periodically conducted studies in their areas of interest. The United Nations Population Fund estimates India’s population in 2025 at more than 146 crore. The population count in 2011 stood at 121 crore, marking a growth of 17.7% over the 2001 Census. Census 2027 is expected to record an increase of 25-30 crore. That makes the case for an accurate, secure, and comprehensive national census even more urgent.

The purpose of the Census in colonial India was to help the rulers govern more efficiently and sustain the regime. In post-Independence India, the Census has served a different purpose: improving governance and speeding up multidimensional and inclusive development. The 1951 Census, expectedly, revealed dismal levels of literacy, poverty, and life expectancy in a country depleted by colonial rule. India in 2026-27 stands on a completely different footing in terms of mobility, connectivity, infrastructure, education, healthcare and other indicators of living standards, which await measurement.

Contested demography

The season of demographic politics is here. Special intensive revision (SIR) is a rebuilding of India’s electoral rolls; the process has also prompted citizens to ensure that they are counted and that their names remain on the rolls.

One act was played in Parliament in mid-April when women’s reservation became a casualty of the fear of ‘biased’ delimitation of constituencies. New electoral boundaries will ordinarily be anchored in Census data, and the 33% reserved seats for women in the legislature will be tied to it. This way, the Census exercise will have elaborate implications for the country’s representative democracy.

Another standout feature of Census 2027 is the inclusion of the caste question for the first time. The matter has been on the political agenda for years now, often dragged into elections. The direction of the debate after the release of the data will be closely watched.

Existing reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will also have the new Census as a reference. Instead of belligerent battles fought over caste, class, and community interests in the electoral cauldron, getting duly counted along these divisions could be a constructive presentation of the case. Affirmative action for marginalised groups, provided under India’s legal and constitutional framework and considered as the fountainhead of social justice, depends on systematic data drawn from the Census.

Roti, kapda, makaan

The Census may appear not to offer any individual profit, but most certainly it does. Access to jobs, food, housing, cooking gas, clean drinking water, safe sanitation, schools, and hospitals are among the expectations citizens have of an elected government.

Accurately identifying needs and deprivations through reliable databases provides the basis for targeted delivery of these welfare measures and public services. Demographic profiles also inform the Finance Commission’s devolution of funds to States and local bodies and even guide private-sector investments in identified areas.

Public policy and service delivery can falter when residents are not properly counted under various buckets. Digital data collection, being done for the first time, could provide deeper and more segregated identification of issues in localities. Viewed from another perspective, departmental dashboards for social and infrastructural provisions could face reality checks post-Census, against their claims.

Guardrails of individual rights

Online self-enumeration, available for 15 days, preceding the survey and already completed by over one crore households, is an additional facilitation, but not mandatory. Self-enumeration blends digital empowerment with the right to privacy and accuracy of personal data. Inclusion is ensured by retaining the manual option and language choices. Census authorities loudly assure that ‘an enumerator will definitely visit your home.’ The Census Act, 1948, ensures the protection of individual data in the face of a malevolent and interconnected world.

In contemporary elections, population groups look out for targeted benefits, often casting votes in return. The ethical and economic prudence of this bargain is widely questioned. But a good Census delivers the same without moral or fiscal damage. While the government has pitched the Census as an instrument of development, citizens must proactively grab the chance of getting counted. Census in 2011 had the tagline ‘Our Census, Our Future’; in 2027, it is ‘Our Census, Our Development’. One could hasten to add, ‘my census, my right.’

Everyone’s task, everyone’s gain

High profile enumeration of the top brass in the national and State capitals carries great symbolism. But the true mandate of the Census is to ensure that no one is left behind and that no facts — or even factoids — from the remotest hamlet or the most crowded urban slum, regardless of people’s circumstances, are excluded from this long-overdue exercise.

Over three million census staffers will have to overcome topographical and social barriers as they go door to door to complete this onerous task.

Although participation in the Census is mandatory, public cooperation must be driven by a heightened awareness of self-interest rather than the apathy that often characterises urban life. ‘Pragati’ and ‘Vikas’, the mascots of Census 2027, are statements not only of the purpose, but of equal role for men and women.

Millions of voters stood in line at polling booths over the past two months because they recognised the importance of their vote, even though voting remains optional. In an ocean of census operations, every individual count matters, just as every single vote matters in a large election.

(Akshay Rout is former Director General, Election commission of India and a Public Policy Commentator. Views expressed are personal)