The BJP’s manifesto may have promised National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Karnataka during the upcoming polls but the nationwide Census and updation of the National Population Register (NPR) have been delayed for more than three years in a row. Initially, the Covid-19 pandemic was cited as one of the reasons for the postponement of the decennial exercise. However, with less than a year for the general elections in May 2024, the Registrar General of India (RGI) has so far not issued any fresh notifications.

The Union home ministry, in written replies before Parliament, has informed that “Till now, the government has not taken any decision to prepare the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at the national level.”

The NRC was first prepared in Assam with the objective of weeding out illegal migrants. The final list released in August 2019 had excluded over 19 lakh applicants out of 3.3 crore. However, the Assam NRC and final data have been fraught with anomalies. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has flagged large-scale anomalies in the Assam NRC.

In fact, the Union budget for Census was slashed from Rs 3,676 crore in the last budget to Rs 1,564 crore this year. “Census, survey and statistics/Registrar General of India (RGI), includes provisions for the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India and various schemes of RGI, including National Population Register and expenditure on Census 2021,” it said.

However, officials told ET that the RGI is setting up data centres at various locations across the country and recently appointed Indian Administrative Services Officers (IAS) as director of Census Operations and Citizen Registration at various locations across states. “The effort is to hold a digital Census but the dates are yet to be decided. Even if the Census is conducted before the general elections, the findings can be made available only by 2024-25. The Census enumeration will be preceded by house-listing enumeration where the exercise for NPR is to be held,” explained an official on the condition of anonymity.