We are economists and social scientists who are deeply concerned about the major implications for the Indian statistical system, of the attempt to combine data collection for the 2021 Census of India with that for the proposed National Population Register.

The Census of India, which provides a household and population listing based on anonymous data, is an essential requirement for the country and provides the statistical basis for all assessments of the conditions of the population and for necessary social and economic policies.

The Census data are also important in enabling Central and State governments to exercise their basic functions and meet their responsibilities to the people. It is, therefore, essential to ensure that the exercise of data collection for Census 2021 is absolutely safe, comprehensive and uncontaminated by any other factors.

However, there is a real danger that the concerns around the National Population Register and the fears that are growing among substantial sections that investigators can determine whether a respondent’s citizenship is “doubtful”. This possibility has already led to widespread public distrust and suspicion about the NPR, and it is not at all clear that there are any benefits from the NPR at the present juncture.

Conducting NPR along with the Census also violates Clause 15 of The Census Act 1948 that bars anyone from accessing “any book, register or record made by a census-officer in the discharge of his duty”. It also violates the provision in the same clause that “no entry in any such book, register, record or schedule shall be admissible as evidence in any civil proceeding other than a prosecution under this Act”.

We therefore demand that, in order to preserve the integrity of Census 2021, it should be completely de-linked from any NPR exercise. In any case, any attempt at data collection for the NPR should be abandoned at present.

Signed:

A. K. Shivakumar, Economist, New Delhi

A. V. Jose, Economist, Thiruvananthapuram

Aasha Kapur Mehta, former Professor, IIPA New Delhi

Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi

Abhijit Sen, Former Member, Planning Commission, New Delhi

Achin Chakraborty, Institute for Development Studies Kolkata

Achin Vanaik, former Professor, Delhi University

Aditya Bhattacharjea, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University

Ajit Karnik, Middlesex University, Dubai

Alex Thomas, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru

Amelia Correa, St Andrews’ College, Mumbai

Amit Basole, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru

Amit Bhaduri, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Amiya Kumar Bagchi, Institute for Development Studies, Kolkata

Anand Chakravarti, former Professor, University of Delhi

Aneesh Correa, Pratham, Mumbai

Anil Bhatti, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Anirban Mukherjee, University of Kolkata

Anita Banerji, University of Delhi

Anita Rampal, Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, New Delhi

Anjana Mangalagiri, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi

Anjana Thampi, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonepat

Anup K. Sinha, former Professor, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata

Anuradha Chenoy, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Arindam Banerjee, Ambedkar University Delhi

Arindam Dasgupta, Professor, Goa Institute of Management

Arjun Jayadev, Professor, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru

Ashima Sood, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad

Ashok Kotwal, Vancouver School of Economics

Ashwini Deshpande, Professor, Ashoka University, Sonepat

Atul Sood, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Avinash Mishra, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Awanish Kumar, St Xavier’s College, Mumbai

Balbir Singh Butola, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Balveer Arora, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Multilevel Federalism, New Delhi

Balwinder Singh Tikana, Professor, University of Patiala

Barbara Harriss-White, Oxford University

Benny Kuruvilla, Focus on the Global South, New Delhi

Bharat Ramaswami, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi

Bibhas Saha, University of Durham, U.K.

Biswajit Dhar, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

C. P. Chandrasekhar, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Chandan Mukherjee, Professor, Ambedkar University Delhi

Chiranjib Sen, Azim Premji Foundation, Bengaluru

Chirashree Dasgupta, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

D. Narasimha Reddy, former Professor, University of Hyderabad

D. Narayana, formerly Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, Kerala

D. Raghunandan, Delhi Science Forum

Debabrata Pal, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Debashish Bhattacharjee, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata

Debraj Ray, Professor, New York University, USA

Deepak Malghan, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Deepankar Basu, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA

Dilip Mookherjee, Boston University, USA

Dinesh Abrol, former Professor, NISTADS, New Delhi

Dipa Sinha, Ambedkar University Delhi

Gita Sen, former Professor, Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru

Guglielmo Chiudi, former Professor Sapienza University of Rome

Harsh Mander, Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi

Hema Swaminathan, Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru

Himanshu, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Imrana Qadeer, Distinguished Professor, Council for Social Development, New Delhi

Indira Chandrasekhar, Publisher, New Delhi

Indira Hirway, Centre for Development Alternatives, Ahmedabad

Indraneel Dasgupta, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata

Ishan Anand, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonepat

Ishita Mukhopadhyay, University of Kolkata

J. Mohan Rao, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA

Janaki Abraham, University of Delhi

Jayan Jose Thomas, Member, Kerala State Planning Board

Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Jayati Sarkar, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research Mumbai

Jens Lerche, University of London

Jesim Pais, SSER New Delhi

Joe Athialy, Centre for Financial Accountability, New Delhi

John Harriss, Professor, University of London

K. K. Kailash, University of Hyderabad

K. N. Harilal, Member State Planning Board, Kerala

K. Nagaraj, Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai

K. P. Kannan, former Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thurvananthapuram

K. T. Suresh, Social Analyst, New Delhi

K. V. Ramaswamy, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai

K. Velupillai, former Professor, University of Trento, Italy

Kalyani Raghunathan, Economist, New Delhi

Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Kamala Menon, Educationist, New Delhi.

M. Vijayabaskar, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai

Madhav K. Datar, Indian Banks Association

Mahalaya Chatterjee, Professor, Kolkata University

Maitreesh Ghatak, London School of Economics

Malini Chakravarty, Economist, New Delhi

Mampi Bose, Economist, New Delhi

Manisha Chakrabarty, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata

Manisha Jain, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai

Manoranjan Mohanty, former Professor, University of Delhi

Meena Gopal, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Mohan Rao, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Mridul Eapen, Member, Kerala State Planning Board

Mritiunjoy Mohanty, IIM Kolkata

N. D. Jayaprakash, Delhi Science Forum

Nalini Nayak, former Professor, Delhi University

Nandini Manjrekar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Nandini Sundar, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University

Neera Chandoke, former Professor, Delhi University

Niladri Sekhar Dhar, ADRI, Patna

Nivedita Menon, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

P. Vijayshankar, Samaj Pragati Sahayog

Padmini Swaminathan, Independent Researcher, Chennai

Parag Waknis, Ambedkar University Delhi

Partha Ghosh, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Partha Saha, Ambedkar University Delhi

Parthapratim Pal, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata

Peter de Souza, Centre for Study of Developing Societies, Delhi

Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Pradipta Bandopadhyay, Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata

Prasenjit Bose, Economist, Kolkata

Praveen Jha, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Protiva Kundu, Economist, New Delhi

Pulapre Balakrishnan, Ashoka University, Sonepat

Pulin Nayak, former Professor, Delhi School of Economkcs, Delhi University

R. Nagaraj, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai

R. Ramakumar, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Ragupathy Venkatachalam, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK

Rahul Roy, Professor, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi

Rajendran Narayanan, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru

Rajesh Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata

Rajiv Jha, University of Delhi

Rajni Palriwala, Delhi University

Rakesh Basant, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

Rama Baru, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Ramana Murthy, University of Hyderabad

Rammanohar Reddy, Editor, The India Forum

Ranjit Nair, independent scholar, New Delhi

Ratan Khasnabis, former Professor, University of Kolkata

Ravinder Jha, Delhi University

Ravinder Kaur, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi

Reetika Khera, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

Renu Khanna, Sahaj, Vadodara

Ritu Dewan, former Professor, University of Mumbai

Ritu Priya, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Rohit Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Roma Chatterji, University of Delhi

Romar Correa, Former RBI Professor of Economics, University of Mumbai

Ritu Menon, Publisher, New Delhi

Runa Sarkar, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata

S. Irfan Habib, former Professor, NUEPA, New Delhi

S. Krishnaswamy, Former Professor, Madurai Kamaraj University

S. Krithi, Tata Institute of Social Studies Hyderabad

S. Subramanian, former Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies

Sachidanand Sinha, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Samira Nadkarni, St Andrews’ College, Mumbai

Santosh Verma, Tata Institute of Social Studies, Mumbai

Sarmishtha Pal, University of Surrey, U.K.

Sashi Kumar, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai

Saumya Chakrabarti, Viswabharati University, Shantiniketan

Sebastian Morris, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

Shiney Chakraborty, Institute of Social Studies Trust, New Delhi

Shiva Sikdar, University of Surrey, U.K.

Shruti Ambast, Economist, New Delhi

Smita Gupta, Economist, New Delhi

Snehashish Bhattacharya, South Asian University, New Delhi

Sona Mitra, Economist, New Delhi

Sripad Motiram, University of Massachusetts at Boston, USA

Stefano Zambelli, University of Trento, Italy.

Subhanil Chowdhury, Institute for Development Studies Kolkata

Subrat Das, Economist, New Delhi

Sudha Vasan, University of Delhi

Sudip Chaudhuri, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram

Sudipta Bhattacharya, Viswabharati University, Shantiniketan

Sugata Ghosh, Brunel University, London

Sumangala Damodaran, Ambedkar University Delhi

Sumeet Gulati, University of British Columbia, Canada

Sumit Sarkar, former Professor, Delhi University

Sunanda Sen, Former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Surajit Das, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Surajit Mazumdar, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Sushil Khanna, former Professor, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata

Tanika Chakraborty, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata

Tanika Sarkar, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Taposik Banerjee, Ambedkar University Delhi

Uma Chakravarti, former Professor, Delhi University

Utsa Patnaik, Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Vamsi Vakulabharanam, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA

Venkatesh Athreya, former Professor of Economics, Chennai

Vibhuti Patel, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Vickram Krishna, privacy and technology expert, Mumbai

Vikas Rawal, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Yoshifumi Usami, Tokyo University, Japan

Yuko Nikaido, Musashi University, Tokyo, Japan

Zoya Hasan, Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

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