The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which was all set to commence the Census Phase I and the udate of the National Population Register (NPR) has now been compelled to postpone both the exercises “until further orders” owing to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The pandemic has brought the entire country to a halt, with the Prime Minister announcing a 21 day complete lockdown across India. The intention is to avoid social contact among people in order to contain the spread of the disease, the cases of which are constantly increasing in the country. In such a situation, it was expected that the MHA would suspend NPR and Census exercise which requires door to door enumeration, it was only a matter of when.
A press release issued by Press Information Bureau states, “Keeping in view the above, the first phase of Census 2021 and updation of NPR, which was to begin on various dates decided by the State/UT governments beginning 1 st April 2020 and various related field activities, are postponed until further orders.”
The official twitter handle of Census Office also posted a tweet along with a press note detailing the same.
In view of COVID-19 outbreak & nationwide lockdown due to the pandemic, the first phase of #CensusIndia2021, that is, the house listing operation & NPR updation is postponed until further order.@PMOIndia @HMOIndia @PIB_India @PIBHomeAffairs pic.twitter.com/IFzcRRQnkQ
— Census India 2021 (@CensusIndia2021) March 25, 2020
The complete press release may be read here:
