Census data gets recovery centres, will be equipped with recovery mechanisms

Bengaluru: The Union home ministry will set up disaster recovery centres in Bengaluru and Lucknow to safeguard data generated during the Census and while updating the National Population Register (NPR), a senior Census of India official said. These will be in addition to the existing one in New Delhi.

“In case of a disaster or a situation that is beyond our control, these centres — equipped with disaster recovery mechanisms — will help store the data safely by taking a backup of the country’s entire census information,” the official said.

One centre will hold the entire data, while the remaining will be shut at any given point in time, but the location of the centre taking the load would not be disclosed, the official said.

The Registrar General of India (RGI), under which the Census department falls, will not partner with any agency to develop and operate the data recovery centres, the official added.

“We have procured hardware items through a nation-wide tender. All other work will be handled by our in-house engineers and a team hired of consultants will assist our workforce in peripheral work,” the official said.

The role of the National Informatics Centre will be limited to providing internet and LAN connectivity, the official added. India is attempting to conduct the 2021 census, the largest in the world, digitally.

Enumerators are expected to spread out collecting information on a mobile app to ensure faster collating of data.

About 3.5 million enumerators will be pressed into service when the exercise begins next month.

RGI has set up data capture centres in most states to capture data of the respective states as well as, in some cases, additional data from others. During the test phase of the Census last year, about 90% of enumerators had opted to enter information on the mobile app over the paper format.

RGI is also developing an app for supervisors to monitor the work of enumerators.

In the 2011 census, where only 10% of the data was captured digitally, around 15 data centres were set up, with each unit handling over 100 terabytes of data.