Census likely to be held soon; no decision yet on caste column: Report

The government has started preparations for conducting the decadal census, but a decision is yet to be taken on including a column on caste as part of the exercise, sources said on Sunday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one source said that the decadal census will be conducted soon. India has conducted the census every 10 years since 1881. The first phase of this decade's census was expected to begin on April 1, 2020 but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, enacted by Parliament last year, too is linked to the conduct of the decadal census. The law reserving one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies shall come into effect after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken based on the relevant figures of the first census recorded after the Act has come into force. "This is yet to be decided," the source said when asked about inclusion of a column on caste in the decadal census. The politic