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Some time in the 19th century, many European states evolved from being skeletal institutions into vast bureaucracies claiming to represent the will of the people they governed. A key part of this transformation involved conducting a census: an unprecedented exercise which, to use the United Nations definition, involved the complete enumeration of a country’s population. Armed with this incredible data, the state could interact with its people in a way no other structure previously could. This is true even today. Even if other entities have vast amounts of technology at their disposal, it is only the state that can carry out a census. The census is therefore a key part of the identity of a modern state.
This context demonstrates how remarkable it is that India is now struggling to carry out its decennial census. While the exercise was to be conducted in 2021, the Modi government has now made it clear that it will not be conducted before 2024-’25. Given this is the sixth time that the latest census has been postponed, there…
