The Centre is likely to postpone the 2021 census till next year due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation in the country, reports said.
“Our hands are full dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic,” The Hindu quoted an official as saying.
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The government is preoccupied with taking measures to control the pandemic and the ongoing vaccine roll-out.
The central government had issued a notification last year stating that the first phase of the House Listing & Housing Census and the National Population Register (NPR) updation exercise will be completed under April 1 to September 30, 2020.
This was to be followed by a second phase which comprises Population Enumeration from February 9 to February 28, 2021.
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However, the first phase itself was postponed due to the pandemic.
“Census is not an essential exercise for now. Even if it is delayed by a year, there would be no harm,” a news agency quoted an official as saying.
The official said no final decision has been taken on when the first phase of the Census 2021 and NPR update would take place, but it is almost certain that it would not be held in 2020 due to the rising cases of the Covid-19.