The deadline to freeze administrative boundaries of districts, tehsils, towns, municipal bodies among others ended on June 30, 2024. It had not been extended till July 1, Monday.
A senior government official told The Hindu that a “decision is yet to be taken and discussions are being held” on the issue.
The ambiguity has a direct impact on the dates of the next Census exercise that was last held in 2011. The deadline has been extended nine times since December 2020. A former Census official said an order for a “post-facto” extension could also be issued on a later date but if it was not extended it meant doors were open for the next Census exercise in the next three-six months.
The Janata Dal (United), a key ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has demanded caste census.
On June 6, senior JD(U) leader K.C Tyagi told The Hindu, “A caste census is being demanded by all. Bihar has paved the way for it. Even the Prime Minister did not oppose the caste census, so we will pursue it.”
The order on December 30, 2023 which extended the freezing of administrative boundaries by State governments till June 30, 2024 effectively pushed the decennial census exercise at least till October 1 as it usually takes three months to prepare the enumerators for the task.
Women’s quota
The implementation of the women’s reservation Act that was passed in a special session of the Parliament last year, which reserves 33% seats in Parliament and State Assemblies for women, is dependent on the conduct of the next Census.
According to the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam,’ one-third reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies shall come into effect after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken based on the relevant figures of the first Census recorded after the Act has commenced.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had informed the Lok Sabha last year that Census and delimitation of seats will be conducted after the general elections but didn’t specify the year.
“States would also require 5-6 months to prepare the apparatus. Since it will be a digital census, training will have to be given afresh for the entire process. If dates for freezing of administrative boundaries are not extended, the first phase of Census and an update of the National Population Register (NPR) can be done in 2025,” said the former Census official.
