Constitutional and Legal Basis of the Census
The Census of India is a Union subject. Under Article 246 of the Constitution, read with Entry 69 of the Union List in the Seventh Schedule, Parliament has exclusive authority to legislate on the census. The Census Act, 1948, enacted by independent India's first Parliament, forms the statutory backbone for conducting the decennial census. It empowers the Central Government to take the census and prescribes penalties for non-compliance.
- The census has been conducted decennially since 1881, first under British administration.
- The responsibility for conducting the census rests with the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Under the Census Act, all individual data collected is strictly confidential and cannot be shared with any state or central government body; only aggregate data at the administrative level is released.
- The Census Act, 1948 is distinct from the Citizenship Act, 1955 under which the National Population Register (NPR) is maintained.
● Tracked since April 30, 2026 · last seen August 31, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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