Bhubaneswar: Even as widespread mistrust and confusion prevail over the amended citizenship law, experts fear that enumerators may face an uphill task gathering data for the decennial census of 2021 in the state. Some even apprehend that the enumerators may even face the animosity of the masses.
Following instructions from the state Census department, different local bodies at urban and rural levels have began preparatory activities for the Census 2021. However, coinciding with the Census, updating of National Population Register (NPR), has kicked a storm, which many allege is the first step towards initiating the contentious National Register of Citizen (NRC).
“The NPR was created in 2010 with the objective to have a comprehensive identity database of all people residing in the country. The database would contain demographic as well as biometric particulars. While the state government approved Rs 8,700 crore for Census, Rs 3,900 crore was allocated for NPR,” explained Pramod Behera, a statistician and a social activist here.
The NPR requires cooperation from state governments, but at least 10 states have suspended work related to its preparation. The Odisha state government, on the other hand, announced updating of NPR in January this year.
The exercise to update the register will be undertaken in the state from April 1 to September 30 this year. However, the updating of NPR will be carried out during the house-listing phase, which forms an important part of the Census, and, as experts believe, it is likely to cause some problems for the Census.
“The house-listing operation is a key step in Census because it’s the basis on which the entire country is divided into enumeration blocks. Following this, the enumerators are given specific enumerator blocks. Thus, if there is resistance during this phase, it is likely that the Census will face an uphill task,” Behera said.
The Central government has denied any link between the NPR and the NRC. However, reports of attacks on field enumerators and even on some health researchers and government survey officials in different parts of the country hinted what lies ahead for the state that has seen its fair share of protests against the NRC and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Apart from animosity, there is fear of contamination of data through providing wrong information. Experts believe that while the basic information such as name, date of birth and age may not be a challenge, people will be extremely paranoid when it will come knowing the details of their birthplace.
Talking to the media, head of the Standing Committee on Economic Statistics, Pronab Sen, said, “So, you may well have a situation where you are unable to undertake the Census work properly. If the Census is not done properly, then for the next 10 years, no household survey would be reliable because all household surveys rely on the Census as the frame. If this runs into problems, and there’s danger that it might, then for the next 11 years, you are in trouble.”
Aviral Mishra, OP