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.
Signed:
- 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
- AnjanaMangalagiri, 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 EquityStudies, 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
- Rajendran Narayanan, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
- Rajesh Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
- Rajiv Jha, University of Delhi
- Rajni Palriwala, Delhi University
- Rakesh Basant, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
- Rama Baru, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Ramana Murthy, University of Hyderabad
- Rammanohar Reddy, Editor, The India Forum
- Ranjit Nair, independent scholar, New Delhi
- Ratan Khasnabis, former Professor, University of Kolkata
- Ravinder Jha, Delhi University
- Ravinder Kaur, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi
- Reetika Khera, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
- Renu Khanna, Sahaj, Vadodara
- Ritu Dewan, former Professor, University of Mumbai
- Ritu Priya, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Rohit Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Roma Chatterji, University of Delhi
- Romar Correa, Former RBI Professor of Economics, University of Mumbai
- Ritu Menon, Publisher, New Delhi
- Runa Sarkar, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
- S. Irfan Habib, former Professor, NUEPA, New Delhi
- S. Krishnaswamy, Former Professor, Madurai Kamaraj University
- S. Krithi, Tata Institute of Social Studies Hyderabad
- S. Subramanian, former Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies
- Sachidanand Sinha, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Samira Nadkarni, St Andrews’ College, Mumbai
- Santosh Verma, Tata Institute of Social Studies, Mumbai
- Sarmishtha Pal, University of Surrey, U.K.
- Sashi Kumar, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai
- Saumya Chakrabarti, Viswabharati University, Shantiniketan
- Sebastian Morris, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
- Shiney Chakraborty, Institute of Social Studies Trust, New Delhi
- Shiva Sikdar, University of Surrey, U.K.
- Shruti Ambast, Economist, New Delhi
- Smita Gupta, Economist, New Delhi
- Snehashish Bhattacharya, South Asian University, New Delhi
- Sona Mitra, Economist, New Delhi
- Sripad Motiram, University of Massachusetts at Boston, USA
- Stefano Zambelli, University of Trento, Italy.
- Subhanil Chowdhury, Institute for Development Studies Kolkata
- Subrat Das, Economist, New Delhi
- Sudha Vasan, University of Delhi
- Sudip Chaudhuri, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram
- Sudipta Bhattacharya, Viswabharati University, Shantiniketan
- Sugata Ghosh, Brunel University, London
- Sumangala Damodaran, Ambedkar University Delhi
- Sumeet Gulati, University of British Columbia, Canada
- Sumit Sarkar, former Professor, Delhi University
- Sunanda Sen, Former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Surajit Das, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Surajit Mazumdar, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Sushil Khanna, former Professor, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
- Tanika Chakraborty, Indian Institute of Management Kolkata
- Tanika Sarkar, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Taposik Banerjee, Ambedkar University Delhi
- Uma Chakravarti, former Professor, Delhi University
- Utsa Patnaik, Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Vamsi Vakulabharanam, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
- Venkatesh Athreya, former Professor of Economics, Chennai
- Vibhuti Patel, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
- Vickram Krishna, privacy and technology expert, Mumbai
- Vikas Rawal, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Yoshifumi Usami, Tokyo University, Japan
- Yuko Nikaido, Musashi University, Tokyo, Japan
- Zoya Hasan, Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
