Allocation stands at ₹574 cr, Census & NPR unlikely to begin in '25

A meagre allocation of ₹574.80 crore under the Union budget for Census, Survey and Registrar General India indicated that the delayed decadal head count exercise in the country may not be carried out this year too.

- Mukesh Ranjan @ New Delhi

This amount is substantially less than the ₹3,768 crore allotted under the same head in the budget for the financial year 2021-22. The allocation under this head in 2024-25 was ₹572 crore.

It may be recalled that the Union government in 2019 had approved the proposal for conducting the 2021 national census at a cost of ₹8,754.23 crore and updating the National Population Register (NPR) at ₹3,941.35 crore.