A file photo of Census officials in a village in 2010 | Photo: Reuters
Concerned over the linking of National Population Register (NPR) and Census 2021, 190 economists and social scientists have signed a document demanding that both be delinked. Signatories include Maitreesh Ghatak of London School of Economics, S Irfan Habib, Jayati Ghosh of Jawaharlal Nehru University, among others.
These eminent economists and social scientists said that while Census is an important exercise and helps centre and state governments make and implement welfare schemes effectively, the widespread public distrust on NPR is dangerous.
Here is the full text and the list of signatories:
We are economists and social scientists who are deeply concerned about the major implications for the Indian statistical system, of the attempt to combine data collection for the 2021 Census of India with that for the proposed National Population Register.
The Census of India, which provides a basic household and population listing based on anonymous data, is an essential requirement for the country and provides the statistical basis for all assessments of the conditions of the population and for necessary social and economic policies. The Census data are also important in enabling central and state governments to exercise their basic functions and meet their responsibilities to the people. It is therefore essential to ensure that the exercise of data collection for Census 2021 is absolutely safe, comprehensive and uncontaminated by any other factors.
However, there is a real danger that the concerns around the National Population Register and the fears that are growing among substantial sections that investigators can determine whether a respondent’s citizenship is “doubtful”. This possibility has already led to widespread public distrust and suspicion about the NPR, and it is not at all clear that there are any benefits from the NPR at the present juncture. Conducting NPR along with the Census also violates Clause 15 of The Census Act 1948 that bars anyone from accessing “any book, register or record made by a census-officer in the discharge of his duty”. It also violates the provision in the same clause that “no entry in any such book, register, record or schedule shall be admissible as evidence in any civil proceeding other than a prosecution under this Act”.
We, therefore, demand that, in order to preserve the integrity of Census 2021, it should be completely delinked from any NPR exercise. In any case, any attempt at data collection for the NPR should be abandoned at present.
A. K. Shivakumar, Economist, New Delhi
A. V. Jose, Economist, Thiruvananthapuram
Aasha Kapur Mehta, former Professor, IIPA New Delhi
Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi
Abhijit Sen, Former Member, Planning Commission, New Delhi
Achin Chakraborty, Institute for Development Studies Kolkata
Achin Vanaik, former Professor, Delhi University
Aditya Bhattacharjea, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University
Ajit Karnik, Middlesex University, Dubai
Alex Thomas, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
Amelia Correa, St Andrews’ College, Mumbai
Amit Basole, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
Amit Bhaduri, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Amiya Kumar Bagchi, Institute for Development Studies, Kolkata
Anand Chakravarti, former Professor, University of Delhi
Aneesh Correa, Pratham, Mumbai
Anil Bhatti, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Anirban Mukherjee, University of Kolkata
Anita Banerji, University of Delhi
Anita Rampal, Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, New Delhi
Anjana Mangalagiri, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi
Anjana Thampi, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonepat
Anup K. Sinha, former Professor, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
Anuradha Chenoy, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Arindam Banerjee, Ambedkar University Delhi
Arindam Dasgupta, Professor, Goa Institute of Management
Arjun Jayadev, Professor, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
Ashima Sood, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad
Ashok Kotwal, Vancouver School of Economics
Ashwini Deshpande, Professor, Ashoka University, Sonepat
Atul Sood, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Avinash Mishra, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Awanish Kumar, St Xavier’s College, Mumbai
Balbir Singh Butola, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Balveer Arora, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Multilevel Federalism, New Delhi
Balwinder Singh Tikana, Professor, University of Patiala
Barbara Harriss-White, Oxford University
Benny Kuruvilla, Focus on the Global South, New Delhi
Bharat Ramaswami, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi
Bibhas Saha, University of Durham, U.K.
Biswajit Dhar, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
C. P. Chandrasekhar, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Chandan Mukherjee, Professor, Ambedkar University Delhi
Chiranjib Sen, Azim Premji Foundation, Bengaluru
Chirashree Dasgupta, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
D. Narasimha Reddy, former Professor, University of Hyderabad
D. Narayana, formerly Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, Kerala
D. Raghunandan, Delhi Science Forum
Debabrata Pal, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Debashish Bhattacharjee, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
Debraj Ray, Professor, New York University, USA
Deepak Malghan, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
Deepankar Basu, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
Dilip Mookherjee, Boston University, USA
Dinesh Abrol, former Professor, NISTADS, New Delhi
Dipa Sinha, Ambedkar University Delhi
Gita Sen, former Professor, Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru
Guglielmo Chiudi, former Professor Sapienza University of Rome
Harsh Mander, Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi
Hema Swaminathan, Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru
Himanshu, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Imrana Qadeer, Distinguished Professor, Council for Social Development, New Delhi
Indira Chandrasekhar, Publisher, New Delhi
Indira Hirway, Centre for Development Alternatives, Ahmedabad
Indraneel Dasgupta, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
Ishan Anand, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonepat
Ishita Mukhopadhyay, University of Kolkata
J. Mohan Rao, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
Janaki Abraham, University of Delhi
Jayan Jose Thomas, Member, Kerala State Planning Board
Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Jayati Sarkar, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research Mumbai
Jens Lerche, University of London
Jesim Pais, SSER New Delhi
Joe Athialy, Centre for Financial Accountability, New Delhi
John Harriss, Professor, University of London
K. K. Kailash, University of Hyderabad
K. N. Harilal, Member State Planning Board, Kerala
K. Nagaraj, Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai
K. P. Kannan, former Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thurvananthapuram
K. T. Suresh, Social Analyst, New Delhi
K. V. Ramaswamy, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai
K. Velupillai, former Professor, University of Trento, Italy
Kalyani Raghunathan, Economist, New Delhi
Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Kamala Menon, Educationist, New Delhi.
M. Vijayabaskar, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai
Madhav K. Datar, Indian Banks Association
Mahalaya Chatterjee, Professor, Kolkata University
Maitreesh Ghatak, London School of Economics
Malini Chakravarty, Economist, New Delhi
Mampi Bose, Economist, New Delhi
Manisha Chakrabarty, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
Manisha Jain, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai
Manoranjan Mohanty, former Professor, University of Delhi
Meena Gopal, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
Mohan Rao, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Mridul Eapen, Member, Kerala State Planning Board
Mritiunjoy Mohanty, IIM Kolkata
N. D. Jayaprakash, Delhi Science Forum
Nalini Nayak, former Professor, Delhi University
Nandini Manjrekar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
Nandini Sundar, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University
Neera Chandoke, former Professor, Delhi University
Niladri Sekhar Dhar, ADRI, Patna
Nivedita Menon, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
P. Vijayshankar, Samaj Pragati Sahayog
Padmini Swaminathan, Independent Researcher, Chennai
Parag Waknis, Ambedkar University Delhi
Partha Ghosh, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Partha Saha, Ambedkar University Delhi
Parthapratim Pal, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
Peter de Souza, Centre for Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Pradipta Bandopadhyay, Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata
Prasenjit Bose, Economist, Kolkata
Praveen Jha, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Protiva Kundu, Economist, New Delhi
Pulapre Balakrishnan, Ashoka University, Sonepat
Pulin Nayak, former Professor, Delhi School of Economkcs, Delhi University
R. Nagaraj, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai
R. Ramakumar, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
Ragupathy Venkatachalam, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
Rahul Roy, Professor, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi