I was wondering if your home’s roof was made of concrete or thatched. Which cereal do you typically eat? Is it a basic mobile phone or do you have access to the internet? Also, how many married couples live in your home?
This is just one of 33 questions that over one billion people in India will be asked in the world’s biggest census, which begins on Wednesday and is the first population count in over fifteen years. As part of the two-part initiative, which is being touted as the most ambitious of its type globally, almost three million officials would spend an entire year tallying all of India’s inhabitants.
Important for policy, welfare delivery, and political representation in the world’s most populous country, the upcoming 16th census of India (the eighth after independence in 1947) will also collect data on caste.
In 2023, India’s population surpassed China’s, reaching over 1.4 billion, according to the United Nations Population Fund. Despite this, with a median age of 28 and a declining fertility rate, it is still one of the youngest nations in the world, with a population of nearly 70% of working age.
The most recent census took place in 2011, and the one scheduled for 2021 was initially postponed due to the pandemic, followed by further postponements in administrative and electoral scheduling. This marked the first occasion that the decennial exercise was not carried out as planned.
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