Essay on the History of Population Census Taking in India

The Indian census is the most comprehensive single source of authentic information about the land and its people. The first attempt to obtain the size of population in India by actually counting heads was made during 1867-1872. This count was neither synchronous, nor did it cover the whole country.

It was, as the noted demographer Kingsley Davis observed, just “an auspicious beginning” of census taking in India.

The next census which was synchronous, covered a wider area and was more modern in nature was undertaken in 1881. Since then, once in every ten years, a new census has been taken in India.

The 1971 census was the eleventh and marked the completion of one hundred years of census taking in India. In 1972, the centenary of the Indian Census was celebrated. The recent 2001 census represents the fourteenth census of India, in this continuous series.

Today, census taking is well accepted and few would question its necessity or try to boycott it. It is worthwhile, however, to study the history of census taking in India since the beginning.

In a populous and vast country like India census taking was by no means easy. It was rendered somewhat more difficult because of the fact that the population was essentially illiterate and was spread out in rural areas.

This gigantic operation was entrusted to the then Indian Civil Service. The census officials and enumerators had to face enormous difficulties, for the attitude of the Indian people at that time was a mixture of curiosity and fear.

On the one hand, they were curious to know why the foreign British Government was interested in information about the sex, religion, caste, language, occupation, etc. of the Indian people.

On the other hand, they had some doubts about the motives of the alien rulers. They were afraid of the imposition of taxes and/or conscription. The British rulers were also somewhat uncertain about the co-operation of the Indian in the conduct of census operations.

Considering the magnitude and the complexity of the task, we must point out that the Indian census authorities have always done a commendable job and that the population statistics obtained through our censuses are considered to be better than average.

The achievements of the census authorities during the past one hundred years have been outstanding, and each census has provided reliable and much-needed data for the use of the country.

In the early years of census taking, many scholars, who were connected with the Indian census in one capacity or the other, had brought out an impressive amount of information in the form of census reports.

These scholars tried to analyze Indian population data more from the sociological and anthropological points of view rather than from the demographic angle.

Such reports were helpful to our foreign administrators in their efficient governance of this country, for they provided them with a broad understanding of this strange land and its peculiar culture.

The Census of 1951 was the first census conducted in independent India. With political independence, the aspirations, for economic independence, better levels of living and a better quality of life came to the fore.

The idea of preparing a national plan for social and economic development gathered momentum after independence, and the First Five-Year Plan was launched.

Thus India committed herself to planned development. Since the census report was the main source of the data needed for drafting the Plan, the 1951 Census acquired a new importance. The approach to the analysis and interpretation of data changed accordingly.

The report of the 1951 Census discussed the growth and structure of the population, and its economic development. The threat posed by the alarming, increase in population was properly evaluated, and the need for curbing the rate of growth was emphasized.

The practice of preparing district census handbooks was also initiated. Data for smaller administrative units, such as a village or an urban block, were thus made available, and micro- level planning became possible.

The Census of 1961 was further improved. It was carefully planned and a great deal of publicity was given to it through the mass media, such as newspapers, pamphlets, radio, cinema, etc. The same practice was continued for the 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 censuses.

An analysis of the 1961 Census was made on a very comprehensive scale. Nearly 1,400 reports based on the data/ collected during this census were prepared. Information about tribes was collected and analyzed for the first time.

A number of special studies dealing with the socio-cultural and demographic aspects of the population were also undertaken and reports were published.

Some of the important topics covered by these studies were: (1) Census Atlas the first of its kind in the world; (2) Village monographs; (3) Fairs and Festivals; (4) Classification of Indian languages; (5) Special studies of cities having a population of more than one million; (6) Census of scientific and technical personnel; (7) Fertility surveys; and (8) Various other monographs.

Economic and migration data uncovered by the 1961 Census were also analyzed in great detail. No wonder the census of 1961 was very comprehensive as compared to all the earlier censuses.