The forthcoming census will be the first digital census and there is a provision for self-enumeration for it, the Centre told Lok Sabha on Tuesday in response to a question by Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor on whether there will be any changes or any additional information required in the 2021 Census as compared to previous editions.
In a written response, the Centre said a mobile app for the collection of data and a census portal for management and monitoring of various census related activities have been developed. The portal will require the mobile phone numbers and other details of individuals for logging in. In the case of self-enumeration, an individual will have to fill in the required details with the help of relevant codes for each field. After self-enumeration, an identification number will be sent on the registered number provided by the individual. The same number can be shared with the enumerator to help officials sync the data automatically.
The Centre said the data collected will not be used for the preparation of any other databases such as the National Register of Citizens. “The individual data collected in Census under the Census Act, 1948 are not made public as per the provisions contained in the Act,” the Centre said.
Minister of state for home Nityanand Rai also said there is no proposal to release the caste data at this stage.
The enumeration exercise is undertaken every 10 years.
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