Editorial 1 : The Census of 1931
Context
The Centre on Wednesday announced that the much delayed Census 2021 will be held in two phases beginning October 1, 2026 and March 1, 2027.
First since 1931
- This will be the first Census since 1931 to capture granular caste data, beyond the broader classifications of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) that have been enumerated in every post-Independence Census.
Brief history
- In 1931, British-ruled India stretched from Baluchistan (Balochistan) in the west to Burma (Myanmar) in the east.
- It also faced political challenges. The census of 1921 had the misfortune to coincide with a wave of non-cooperation.
- The Gandhi-Irwin Pact of March 5, 1931, which effectively ended the Civil Disobedience Movement, was signed a week after the date of enumeration on February 27.
- The Congress boycotted the Census, observing January 11, 1931 as “Census Boycott Sunday”.
- What did have an effect, however, was the Great Depression and the economic distress it brought.
- It was another of the misfortunes of the 1931 census that it coincided with a fall in revenue and a period of economic depression which left no choice but to cut expenditure.
- Even in absolute terms — not taking inflation into account — the 1931 Census was cheaper per capita than a decade earlier, costing Rs 12.8 per thousand population compared to Rs 14 per thousand population in 1921.
- There were other challenges such as the Bhils refusing to have their houses numbered on “superstitious grounds”, and of enumerators in “less law-abiding places” getting beaten up by locals.At places, enumerators were attacked by wild animals.
Key findings of Census
- The 1931 Census captured crucial demographic data about (undivided) India and its people.
- It found the total population of British India (including Burma and various princely states) to be 35.05 crore, up from 31.89 crores a decade ago.
- This equated to a decadal population growth rate of 10.6%, much higher than in the last three cycles.
- It also cited significant improvements in public health (particularly a reduction of deaths from the bubonic plague, cholera, and smallpox), an absence of major epidemics and, interestingly, the “universality of marriage” as the reason for the population growth.
- The variation of density of population in India depends not on industry, as in the United Kingdom, but on agriculture, and is greatest of course in the most fertile areas.
- However, the actual rate of increase in population was the greatest in the less populated and less fertile areas.
The enumeration of castes
- Like in earlier censuses, the 1931 Census enumerated individual castes among the Hindu population.
- This exercise faced strong opposition in Punjab; even in the previous Census of 1921, a total of 20,993 Hindus — about half of them from Bahawalpur State — had declared their caste as “unspecified” due to the influence of Arya Samaj.
- The Census of 1931, like previous censuses in India, included a question on "Race, Tribe, or Caste," which had been part of the census since 1872.
- The wording and focus of this question evolved over the years, with earlier censuses asking about "Caste or Class," "Caste of Hindus & Jains," and similar variations.
- The Census report also highlighted the difficulties in categorizing caste accurately due to the use of different surnames for the same caste and the fluidity in caste names.
- This lack of consistency made it challenging to gather correct data.
Conclusion:
The question of caste in Indian censuses, especially in 1931, revealed the challenges of accurately capturing caste data due to the fluidity and complexity of caste nomenclature. These issues persisted throughout the censuses, highlighting the difficulty in organizing and interpreting caste information reliably for census purposes.