Making the numbers count

In popular perception, the Census is just a little more than a population enumeration exercise. Actually, it is much more. There is, in fact, no better data source that captures the living conditions and progress of Indians than this massive decennial operation. Think of it: We have estimates of poverty that vary according to how the ‘poverty line' is defined, which is itself a matter of subjective interpretation. The lay public is, therefore, confused when told by one Expert Group that the poverty ratio for 2004-05 was 37.2 per cent and not 27.5 per cent as assessed by some other panel's methodology.

There is no such ambiguity when it comes to the Census, which gathers very specific and direct information that reflects the real state of affairs of households. Take, for instance, the findings of the 2001 Census that 63.6 per cent of Indian households had no latrines and only 39 per cent had access to drinking water within their premises, while there was no drainage connectivity for wastewater outflow in 53.6 per cent. Or, that 52.5 per cent used firewood as cooking fuel and a mere 17.5 per cent LPG. Are there more credible measures of backwardness, if not poverty, than these for policymakers to introspect on their own governance failures? If the 2011 Census were to reveal improvement in these numbers — besides demographic indicators such as female sex ratio and fertility rates — that would, indeed, constitute ‘progress' more than just abstract GDP growth or poverty reduction figures. The results from it would be the best report card on what economic reforms and high growth rates of the last 7-8 years have delivered on the ground. And since the Census' coverage extends to each and every household across the country's 6,40,000-odd villages and 8,000 towns — unlike the usual sample surveys of other official and private market research agencies — there can be no quarrel over the authenticity of its data.

The good thing, moreover, is that bulk of the data, this time, will be available over the next year. The use of advanced character recognition and automated forms processing software will enable scanning and processing of the entire primary information, collected from some 240 million households, in double-quick time. That makes it useful to not just planners, but even corporates, which will get insights into the amenities and assets (including consumer durables) available now with households that could lead to the exploration of new business opportunities. Earlier, the release of all data this took five years or more, by which time these had ceased to have much practical relevance. The credit for the remarkable progress on this count goes to technology and, of course, the Census authorities' willingness to deploy it.

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