India is predicted to become the world’s most populous country in the next two months, but the government does not know how many people are actually living there.
According to the British news agency Reuters, India’s population will reach one billion and 40 million in two months.
In India, the 2021 Census could not be conducted due to the Corona epidemic and the subsequent efforts encountered several technical and other problems, while there is no prospect of any major steps being taken in this regard in the near future. will be picked up.
Experts say that due to the non-availability of fresh data, much information is not being revealed.
Rachna Sharma, from the National Institute of Public Health’s finance department, believes that accurate data is crucial for the census.
“In the absence of recent data, all estimates will be based on data that was compiled a decade ago.”
He said that estimates made on the basis of such old data would be far from reality.
A senior statistics ministry official said the census data is from 2011 and is being used for government programs and projects.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Statistics says that the Ministry’s job is to carry out projects based on statistics and they cannot comment on the census process.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not comment on the data.
Similarly, two other government officials, one from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the other from the Office of the Registrar General of India, say that the reason for the delay in the census is that the government wants to make it foolproof in all respects. For this, the help of technology is being taken.
A Home Ministry official said that modern software will be used to collect information regarding the census which can be used through a mobile application and will be linked to the database.
He said that due to these measures the census is getting delayed.
The Registrar General India Office, which conducts the census, declined to comment when contacted.
Critics of the main opposition party Congress and incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi allege that the census is being deliberately delayed to hide the data for political purposes ahead of the 2024 elections.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera says that the government is often hostile to the statistics of important sectors such as unemployment, deaths due to Corona, etc.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Gopalkrishna Agarwal has rejected such allegations.
I want to know on what basis they are saying this. What is the social measure by which our nine-year performance is worse than their 65?