The Union government with reference to the digital India initiative has decided to take census digitally this year rather than pen-paper based. The country’s 16th census will be collected digitally for the first time ever with the provision of self-enumeration as stated by the Union Ministry.
"The forthcoming Census will be
the first digital Census and there is a provision for self-enumeration. Mobile
App for collection of data and a Census Portal for management and monitoring of
various Census related activities have been developed," the Ministry of
Home said in the Lok Sabha.
So let’s cover
all the bases regarding the digital census:
What is a
digital census?
Till now,
the process involved visiting every household and filling up forms. This year,
workers going door-to-door will have tablets or smartphones that will let them
enter information digitally. The data collected by school teachers (workers) who will double up as enumerators
during the Census exercise.
For this (digital census),
there is a provision for self-enumeration, a mobile app for the collection of
data and a census portal for management and monitoring of various Census
related activities.
Using a
digital device for data collection not only speeds up the process but also
analysis becomes more efficient and swift.
How digital
census will be done?
If you want
to opt for self-enumeration which means the census survey questionnaire will be
completed by the respondent themselves then, once the census portal is made,
the individual could log in using their mobile numbers and proceed to fill up
the details.
In the
Census portal, individuals will be required to fill in the form for population
enumeration.
Codes will
be displayed on the screen to fill in the various options
Once
self-enumeration is done, an identification number will be sent on individual
mobile phones.
When the
enumerator goes for the house listing exercise, the ID number can be shared,
which will automatically sync all the data already filled online.
The forthcoming digital census was introduced during the budget this year by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who presented the first paperless Union Budget 2021-22.
"For this monumental milestone marking
task, I have allocated ₹ ₹3,768 crore for Financial Year 2021," Nirmala
Sitharaman had said.
