Individual info collected for Census not used in database like NRC: Nityanand Rai

The minister said mobile apps for the collection of data and a census portal for management and monitoring of various census-related activities have been developed.

New Delhi: The Union home ministry on Wednesday said individual information collected for the census is not made public or used for the preparation of any other database including the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and only aggregated data at various administrative levels is released.

"The individual data collected in the census under the Census Act, 1948 are not made public as per the provisions contained in the Act. Only the aggregated census data at various administrative levels are released," he said in a written reply to a question. In the census, Nityanand Rai said data is collected on demographic and various socio-economic parameters like education, SC, ST, religion, language, marriage, fertility, disability, occupation, and migration of the individuals.

"The individual data are not used for the preparation of any other database including the National Register of Citizens," he said. The minister said mobile apps for the collection of data and a census portal for management and monitoring of various census-related activities have been developed.

Special emphasis is given to scientifically designing the census questions for faster processing and early release of data. "Census scheduled in 2021 and related field activities got postponed until further orders due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic adding that it will be the first digital Census wherein there is also a provision for self-enumeration," Rai added.