Budget documents show that both the budget estimates and actual spending on the census survey have declined in recent years. The Budget estimate for FY26 was just ₹R574 crore, down from ₹1,341 crore of revised estimates in FY25. This seems to imply that census activity may not gain traction next fiscal year either.
After COVID-19, both estimates and actual spending on census have continuously declined. In FY22, ₹3,768 crore was estimated, but actual spending was only ₹505 crore. Similarly, in FY24, ₹1,564 crore was estimated, but spending was ₹572 crore. Finally, for FY26, only ₹R574 crore has been allocated.
This was not the case when the 2011 Census was conducted. In FY09, around ₹316 crore was estimated, but actual spending reached ₹437 crore. In FY11, ₹1,999 crore was estimated, while ₹2,726 crore was spent. In FY12, ₹4,123 crore was estimated, with actual spending at ₹2,638 crore. The government ultimately released the census report in April 2011.
The proposed budget for Census 2011 was ₹2,200 crore and for Census 2021, it was set at ₹8,754 crore. The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Home Ministry conducts a decadal census in every ten years, which takes around 12 months to complete. The process contains a vast data on demography, population, household information, socio-economic indicators, education level, and more.
Shubho Roy, a public finance researcher, explained, “Conducting census requires a large budget outlay, as seen when the last census was done. The current outlay is not large enough to indicate that a census is planned for this financial year. The amount allocated this year may be what is required for the day-to-day running expenses of the Registrar General of India (who also acts as the Census Commissioner).”
There are 34 directorates of census in India for each states and union territory, which coordinate with the main census office in New Delhi. Apart from the Census, around 16 datasets and reports have also been delayed, including Crime in India 2023, Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2023, Health Management Information System Annual Report, Sample Registration System Statistical Report, and others.
Pramit Bhattacharya, Head of Research at a data-based public platform, Data For India, explained, “It appears that the Union government has not budgeted for census operations so far, although they could increase the budget for RGI in their demand for supplementary grants later this year. The RGI also needs funds for other operations since it runs the SRS and CRS systems for tracking the country’s vital statistics.”