Editorial 1: A data shaped hole
Context:
- Recently, a Parliament reply informed about the three-year delay in the preparation of National Register of Citizens (NRC). Patna High Court recently stayed the completion of Caste based census in Bihar. 2021 census has already been delayed and Household Consumption Expenditure (HCE) survey has not been conducted since 2017-18.
Status and history of Indian Census:
- Population Census is the total process of collecting, compiling, analyzing and disseminating demographic, economic and social data pertaining, at a specific time, of all persons in a country or a well-defined part of a country.
- With a history of more than 130 years, this reliable, time-tested exercise is bringing in a real insight into the data every 10 years, beginning in the year 1872 when the first census was conducted non-synchronously in different parts of India. Under Lord Ripon in 1881, it was conducted synchronously. Since then, it has been conducted regularly.
Legal basis: The Census Organization has been established by Census Act 1948. It lies under Entry 69 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule (Article 246) of the Constitution.
- The law makes it compulsory for every citizen to answer the census questions truthfully.
- The Act provides penalties for giving false answers or not giving answers at all to the census questionnaire.
- One of the most important provisions of law is the guarantee for the maintenance of secrecy of the information collected at the census of each individual.
- The census records are not open to inspection and also not admissible in evidence.
- It also mandates implementation of the Birth and Death Registration Act, 1969 in the country.
Agency: The decennial Census is conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Method: The census is conducted in two phases: first, house listing and house numbering phase and second, the actual population enumeration phase. The census is carried out by the canvassing method. In this method, each household is visited and the information is collected by specially trained enumerator. They collect data related to households e.g. number of members, water & electricity supply, ownership of land, vehicles, computers and other assets and services. In the second phase, total population is counted and statistics related to individuals are collected and saved into the governments hand.
Other Data Collection and Updating done along with the Decennial Census:
The National Population Register (NPR): It is a Register containing details of persons usually residing in a village or rural area or town or ward or demarcated area within a ward in a town or urban area.
- NPR was first prepared in 2010 and updated in 2015 under Sub-rule (4) of Rule 3 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, framed under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
- To incorporate the changes due to birth, death and migration, the NPR would be updated along with Houselisting and Housing Operations of forthcoming Census.
- The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive database of usual residents in the country. No document will be collected during this exercise.
National Register of Citizens: The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register of all legal Indian citizens.
- It was mandated by the 2003 amendment of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
- National Register of Citizens, 1951 is a register prepared after the conduct of the Census of 1951 in respect of each village, showing the houses or holdings in a serial order and indicating against each house or holding the number and names of persons staying therein.
- It has not been updated yet at the national level. It was updated recently, only for Assam due to a 2014 order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
Other Sources of Data for Policy Making:
Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011: It seeks to canvass every Indian family in rural and urban India, and ask about their economic status and specific caste name, to allow the government to re-evaluate which caste groups are economically worse off and which are better off.
- SECC is a tool to identify beneficiaries of state support.
- Data of SECC is open for use by Government departments to grant and/or restrict benefits to the people.
- SECC has the potential to allow for a mapping of inequalities at a broader level.
- It will be useful to establish statistical justification for preserving caste-based affirmative action programmes or welfare schemes.
Household Consumption Expenditure Survey: Information collected in the survey will be primarily used for preparation of weighting diagram through determination of budget shares of different commodity groups in total consumption for compilation of consumer price indices for rural and urban India.
- Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) is conducted every five years. Last one was conducted in 2017-18 which was rejected by the government citing ‘quality issues’ when it indicated rise in poverty levels according to the leaked data.
- The revamped CES includes new features such as three visits by an enumerator to a household to seek more detailed information on their consumption basket. The basket itself has been expanded in the new round.
- In addition, statistical indicators of level of living, social consumption and well-being, and inequalities therein will also be compiled from the data collected in the survey.
- Average Monthly Per Capita Consumption expenditure (MPCE) of any sub-population of the country (any region or population group) is a single number that summarises the level of living of that population.
- More detailed analysis of the distribution of MPCE reveals the proportion and absolute numbers of the poor with respect to a given poverty line. Alternatively, MPCE can also be looked upon as an indicator of purchasing power of the household.
- National Statistical Office (NSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has been entrusted with conducting such National Sample Surveys to collect the data on various socio-economic indicators employing scientific sampling methods since 1950.
- It is designed to collect information regarding expenditure on consumption of goods and services (food and non-food) consumed by households. The results are then also used for rebasing of the GDP and other macroeconomic indicators such as retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Significance of Data Collection in Policy Making:
- Data on housing and housing conditions, household amenities to urbanization, inter-intra state migration flows and gender, age, linguistic and religious profiles etc. are vital for effective policy formulation and economic analysis.
- It will help remove ambiguity on the data on poverty based on the robust data on consumption expenditures and the assets data collected by the Census.
- It will help in evidence-based policy making, scientific planning and ensure optimum use of resources.
Way Forward:
- The need is to ensure collection of updated data at regular intervals. Use of Technology should be promoted to prevent data errors of coverage and content. Further, strong steps should be taken to ensure the regularity of collection of data for timely and proper policy making to bring about the desired policy outcomes for the citizens.
Editorial 2: Forests on fire
Context:
- Recently, a violence broke out in Manipur between the hill (Kuki) and valley (Meitei) communities due to the solidarity rally held by Meitei community for Scheduled Tribe status demand.
Key reasons behind the Manipur violence:
Apart from the insecurities created by the demand for the ST status by Hindu dominant Meiteis, there are other significant reasons which include
- Eviction of Kuki Tribals from the Hill forests by the government in the name of encroachment over the ‘reserve forest’.
- Destruction of Poppy cultivation in the hills by the government without provision of alternative occupations apart from dissent among drug warlords in Manipur.
- Problem of less autonomy of Hill Area Autonomous District Councils in Manipur which are not under Sixth Schedule of the constitution.
- Recent ‘verification drive’ by the administration to identify the ‘illegal immigrants’ from Myanmar ignored the historic ties between Kukis of Manipur and Kukis of ‘Zo’ ethnic group in Myanmar and Nagas on both sides. It also ignored the refugees in Manipur are those running away from persecution in Myanmar.
- Ignoring the traditional institutions of the tribals and no prior consultation with the people before taking over ancestral lands of the people in the hills.
Steps needed:
- There is a need to provide alternative employment and market for agricultural produce to replace Poppy cultivation in the Hills, for instance aloe vera cultivation.
- Dialogue must be promoted among the sane voices of the respective communities to resolve issues of differences and find practical solutions.
- Technology Infrastructure must be created to fight the menace of illegal migration and drug smuggling from the Golden Triangle(Thailand, Myanmar, Laos) across the porous unfenced India-Myanmar border.
- Drug deaddiction drives and deaddiction centres must be set up to wean away the youth from this deadly drug menace.
- Forest area acquisition and eviction must follow due process and only done after consultation and prior rehabilitation and resettlement according to 2007 policy on rehabilitation.
- Tackling Illegal Migration must take humanitarian approach considering traditional pre-independence cross border tribal family relations and allow for the grant of citizenship on compassionate basis in cases of persecution.
- Consider increasing autonomy of the Hill District Councils to address insecurities among the Hill tribes, possibly bringing the area under Sixth Schedule.
Way Forward:
- There is a need for cooperation between Union and State government in the spirit of cooperative federalism where the Centre through Act East policy, provides diplomatic, economic and cross border alternatives to resolve the employment, market and drug smuggling issue. Further, devolution of power is necessary to empower the tribals to redress their cultural and ethnic grievances. Compassionate policy of development and citizenship is the need of the hour to ensure peace in the region..