Ahead of Budget, MHA caps census survey expenditure

New Delhi:Ahead of the upcoming Union budget, the Union home ministry has capped the expenditure of the Census Survey and Statistics to about half of what was allocated in Budget Estimates 2024-25 but has made a provision, saying the RGI can access more funds through a special route.

The Registrar General of India (RGI) is expected to hold the much delayed census and update the National Population Register this year and the Union finance ministry is likely to allocate for the same during the upcoming budget, according to officials. It will further change the future census cycles completely. As per the Revised Estimates (RE) for a census survey, a sum of ₹1.25013 crore was allocated during the budget estimates for 2024-25, however, a sum of ₹0.52209 crore has been earmarked in the Revised Estimates for 2024-25.

The order further noted, "It may be ensured that the total expenditure under each head of account during the current financial year does not exceed the outlay indicated in the Revised Estimates 2024-25." It added, "Where the provision in RE has been reduced below the Budget Estimates (BE) provision, the expenditure may be kept within the RE outlay so fixed and where RE provision has been increased, it does not per se authorise expenditure beyond BE provision."


The process enumerated in 2019 for Census 2020 got delayed due to Covid-19 and later general elections 2024. On the caste census, the government had earlier informed the Parliament that there is no plan to enumerate caste-wise data in Census 2021 other than the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

"The Government of India has not enumerated caste-wise populations other than SCs and STs in Census since Independence," the MHA had said in response to a Parliament question. "We are also aware that several state assemblies have passed resolutions for caste-based census," explained another official. In 2018, the Modi government announced that Census 2021 envisages collecting data on OBC for the first time.