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Every Person Counts!
 What
would you say if somebody asked you how many toilets
do you have in your home? What if somebody seeks information
about the number of married couples in your house having
independent room for sleeping? Did you know Plastic
is one of the most commonly used material for wall and
ceiling in India? Did anybody ask you whether you are
partially or totally disabled? Or would you question
the audacity of such questions?
But someone did ask such questions. They were the enumerators
of the Census of India 2001 program, which is
a historic and epoch-making exercise unparalleled in
the world. Being the largest enumeration program in
the world, our census has been acclaimed by various
United Nations organizations for its accuracy. The census
held once in every decade, now has a compilation of
statistics of the past 120 years. It presents benchmark
data on the state of abundant human resources in our
country, their demography, culture and economic structure.
The earliest reference of census taken in India can
be traced back to the Mauryan period in Kautilya's
'Arthashastra' 2,300 years ago. In Bible it is written
that the Roman emperor ordered a census during the birth
of Jesus Christ. The present scientific form of enumeration
process was started in 1881 by the British government.
Compared to the enormous time it took to compile data
in those days, the 2001 census took just 1month. Conducted
between 9th and 28th Feb 2001, the data compiled
has been put together and published within two-month
period. This is quite an impressive task!
 The
highlight of the 2001 census was the inclusion of disabled
person clause. Disability being a very sensitive
issue, enumerators and supervisors were trained and
sensitized to handle the question. Slum enumeration
blocks were identified for the first time in each municipal
town of population more than 50,000. Another innovation
of the 2001 census was the establishing of Census
Help Centres and telephone help lines. This was
for providing timely technical assistance to enumerators
and to register public complaints.
The census staff, particularly the enumerators and
supervisors, was put through considerable stress and
strain during the operations. Stray dogs, locked houses,
ill treatment and sometimes refusal to provide information
were some of the problems they faced. The increase in
population required more number of enumerators, which
resulted in appointing teachers from Government primary
schools also. There were also complaints from the public
about their houses not being enumerated. In Bangalore
alone, there were over 1200 complaints received at the
help centers, which were attended to immediately. Mobile
citizenry, homeless migratory workers, employees working
over time, etc., were some of the major concerns.
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Some interesting facts
· The census moment or the referral time at
which the snapshot of the population is taken was 00.00hours
of the 1st March 2001. Would you believe the census
went on till the midnight to enumerate the homeless
population in any village or city!
· At that moment in history the country's population
stood at 1,027,015,247, which is second only
to China. There is a yawning gap of between the India
and the USA, which comes next at 281million.
· The population of our one state Uttar Pradesh
is equal to the population of Brazil, which is the fifth
most populous country in the world! And to add to that,
UP is more populous than Pakistan!
· West Bengal and Bihar have pushed Kerala
to third position to become the most densely populated
states. But New Delhi remains the densest Union territory
at 9,294people per sq km!
· There are only 933 females in India for every
1000 males in the gender ratio compared to Russia's
1140:1000. So all you hapless guys, now know where to
head!
· The population count of Kachchh, Rajkot and
Jamnagar of Gujarat is only an estimate. The enumeration
was not conducted in these parts and we all know why!
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