Census: Citizens Can Now Self-Enumerate Online

New Delhi: Indian citizens will have the option of self-enumerating online for the upcoming census after the Central government amended rules allowing questions to be asked during the decennial (every 10 years) exercise to be both on paper and in electronic forms.

According to the Census (Amendment) Rules, 2022, ‘electronic form’ will have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (R) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 — any information generated, sent, received or stored in media, magnetic, optical, computer memory, micro film, computer generated micro fiche or similar device.

The existing system of home visit by enumerators to collect census data will continue.

The new rules define self-enumeration as “filling up, completion and submission of census schedule by respondents themselves”, reported Hindustan Times.

“Without prejudice to any other provisions of these rules, a person may fill-up, complete and submit the census schedule through self-enumeration,” rules notified by Union Home ministry say.

The census operation is on hold because of COVID-19 outbreak.

In the original schedule of the census, house listing phase and exercise to update NPR were to be carried out across India from April 1 to September 30, 2020, and the reference date was to be March 1, 2021, and in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it would have been October 1, 2020.

The Centre is yet to announce the new schedule.