How India will count its 1.4 billion in world’s largest ever census
The world’s most populous country is embarking on an epic project to count its estimated 1.4 billion inhabitants – a feat that hasn’t been achieved in 15 years. But just how will they do it?
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
Imagine counting all the people who live in the world’s most populated country. That’s exactly what India is about to embark on.
The South Asian nation will launch the world’s largest census* on Wednesday, with more than three million officials to take part in a vast counting exercise over the next year. But with an estimated population of more than 1.4 billion people speaking 22 officially recognised languages, the census looks to be no simple task. So just how is the Indian government planning to do it? And why have they decided to embark on such an ambitious task after 15 years without an official population count?
WHY IS INDIA HOLDING A CENSUS?
In 2023, the United Nations estimated that India had overtaken China to become the world’s most populous country, with more than 1.42 billion people.
According to the UN, India’s population has been forecast to continue growing until 2064.
However, the South Asian nation has been facing mounting challenges in providing electricity, food and housing to its growing population.
Many of its sprawling megacities are already grappling with water shortages, air and water pollution, and overcrowded slums.
India’s government has described the $1.24 billion census as a “gigantic exercise of national importance” that could support “inclusive governance* and evidence-based policy formulation*”. In other words, the census could inform the government on how to shape its policies to ensure the population has proper access to living amenities*.
The enumeration*, or listing of population, will also include the politically sensitive issue of caste, the millennia-old social hierarchy* that divides Hindus* by function and social standing.
HOW WILL THE CENSUS OPERATE?
Due to the sheer size of India’s population, the upcoming census presents a significant challenge in how it will be rolled out. To offer a similar example, India’s 2024 general election, the largest democratic exercise in history, was conducted in seven phases over six weeks.
Because of the challenges, the census will be carried out in two phases.
The first phase, which began Wednesday and will run until September, will involve a staggered, month-long listing of population to record details of housing and amenities.
The process will combine door-to-door visits with an option for online self-listing, linking to an app drawing on satellite imagery and available in 16 languages.
A second phase will focus on population data including demographic, social and economic details as well as the more contentious* question of caste.
WHAT IS INDIA’S CASTE SYSTEM?
Traditionally, India and many other South Asian countries organised social structures into hierarchies using the caste system.
The caste system has been around for about 3000 years and remains a powerful decider of social status in India, shaping access to resources, education and opportunity.
According to Britannica.com, the Hindu caste system used in India assigns people into one of four large caste clusters based on their jati, or birth.
The jati of a person determines the rules for their behaviour, including their diet, kinship* and occupation. People are expected to marry others of the same jati and interact with others of the same jati or caste they are grouped into to avoid “being polluted” by someone from a lower caste.
The four caste clusters people are assigned to based on their jati, from what is considered as having the highest prestige to lowest, are Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (originally peasants but later seen as merchants), and Shudras (artisans and labourers).
There is also a fifth caste system called Panchamas. This caste were previously called the Untouchables and were excluded from the caste system because their touch was believed by the higher castes to transmit pollution.
This caste were traditionally the landless people who performed agricultural work and other jobs considered to be unclean, such as garbage collection, street sweeping, cleaning toilets by hand, preparing dead bodies for cremation, leather tanning and fishing. As a result, the Panchamas were socially oppressed, including being banned from entering temples, using common wells, attending schools with upper caste children and even entering public spaces.
Mahatma Gandhi* started to change some people’s perspectives in the 1930s when he called them Harijans, or the children of God.
More recently, the Panchamas began to call themselves Dalit, or the Oppressed. Officially, the caste is now referred to as Scheduled Castes.
The Dalit or Scheduled Castes have been estimated to make up about one sixth of India’s population.
The Indigenous people of India, who have also existed outside the four socially accepted caste clusters, are known as Scheduled Tribes.
The practice of untouchability* was abolished in 1950, however, there are still widespread reports of discrimination and even human rights abuse against the Dalit and the Scheduled Tribes.
PAST CENSUS ATTEMPTS
India has not conducted a census since 2011, after the 2021 round was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the last census, India’s population was 1.21 billion.
A caste survey conducted in 2011 was never published, with authorities claiming inconsistencies in the data.
The last time comprehensive caste data was collected as part of a census was in 1931, under British colonial* rule.
Governments have since resisted updating the data, blaming administrative complexity and concerns over potential social tensions.
– With AFP
POLL
GLOSSARY
- census: an official count or survey of a population
- inclusive governance: making sure people from various backgrounds are included in decision making
- formulation: creating or preparing something
- enumeration: making a list of things, one after the other
- hierarchy: a system where members are ranked in terms of importance or authority
- amenities: useful features or services that make living somewhere comfortable
- Hindus: followers of Hinduism, a major religion in India
- contentious: controversial
- kinship: family connections
- Mahatma Gandhi: an Indian lawyer and political thinker who used non violent resistance to successfully campaign for India’s independence from British colonial rule. He also campaigned for better equality for women, to ease poverty and to eliminate the unfairness of the caste system
- untouchability: the oppression and violence imposed upon the Dalit
- British colonial: from 1757 to 1947, India was under British colonial rule. England had gone from establishing trading posts through the British East India Company to expanding its control to take over about 60 per cent of the country. It established a Bengali puppet ruler and started to control the government, education system and other aspects of Indian infrastructure. In 1857, some of the Indian soldiers working for the East India Company staged a rebellion and 18 months later the British Government began direct rule over India. In 1947 India was granted independence once more, however it was partitioned into India and Pakistan resulting in a violent end to British rule where millions died as they raced to cross new borders based on whether they were Hindu, Muslim or Sikh
EXTRA READING
India overtakes China to have biggest population
What is the Census all about?
China lifts the baby limit to three
QUICK QUIZ
1. What is the estimated population of India?
2. How many officially recognised languages are spoken in India?
3. How much will the upcoming Indian census cost?
4. How many years does the caste system date back?
5. When was India’s last census conducted?
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. News: condensed
Identify the most important pieces of information in this article and write a condensed version of it using 50 words or less.
Draw a picture or diagram to support your condensed news story.
Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science
2. Extension
Compare your condensed news story with a classmate. Did you both include the same information or are your stories quite different? Discuss your choices and then work together to create a final condensed version of the story that you both agree tells the important parts that a reader would need or want to know.
Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
VCOP ACTIVITY
Read this!
A headline on an article – or a title on your text – should capture the attention of the audience, telling them to read this now. So choosing the perfect words for a headline or title is very important.
Create three new headlines for the events that took place in this article. Remember, what you write and how you write it will set the pace for the whole text, so make sure it matches.
Read out your headlines to a partner and discuss what the article will be about based on the headline you created. Discuss the tone and mood you set in just your few, short words. Does it do the article justice? Will it capture the audience’s attention the way you hoped? Would you want to read more?
Consider how a headline or title is similar to using short, sharp sentences throughout your text. They can be just as important as complex ones. Go through the last text you wrote and highlight any short, sharp sentences that capture the audience.