Census 2021 postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic: Centre in Lok Sabha

Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Census 2021 and related field activities have been postponed, informed the Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The intent of the Government for conducting Census 2021 was notified in the Gazette of India on March 28, 2019, Rai added.

Rai was responding to a question on the census in the Lok Sabha.

Rai said that the government has appointed 372 officials to fill the post of Census officers in various states.

He further said that the Census seeks to obtain information pertaining to the mother tongue and two other languages spoken by individuals.

The disclosure comes at a time when the Opposition parties, particularly in Bihar, have been demanding a caste-based Census.

Earlier today, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that he will soon convene an all-party meeting o discuss the issue of caste-based Census.

"We will soon call an all-party meeting to discuss the caste-based census. We want to do it so that all political parties reach a consensus and the state government will make an announcement based on the consensus," Nitish Kumar told reporters in Patna.

On Thursday, RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha moved a Zero Hour Notice in Rajya Sabha on the issue of caste-based Census. In response to a question on the matter earlier, Rai had said that castes and tribes which are specifically notified as Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) as per the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, as amended from time to time, are enumerated in the decadal Census.

( With inputs from ANI )

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