New Delhi [India], April 27 (ANI): Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Marian Alexander Baby expressed support for the Census 2027 exercise, while raising concerns over the lack of clarity on the methodology for conducting a caste-based socio-economic survey.
He said he hoped the Census process would be successful but pointed out that several aspects, particularly the “modus operandi” of collecting caste-related data, remain unclear.
Speaking to ANI on Sunday, MA Baby said, “… I wish and hope that this census process will be a success. But even about this census process, many things are yet to be explained… What is the modus operandi of undertaking the socio-economic study of the caste? This is not yet been explained… Definitely, the entire country should cooperate with the census process. Political parties will also cooperate with it.”
A day earlier, in the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcast, Prime Minister Modi said that every Indian must be aware of the Census campaign, which is the world’s largest census. The PM elaborated that the Census 2027 has been made digital, with all information being recorded directly in digital form. The enumerators going door-to-door have a mobile app to enter all the information, he said.
PM Modi said that in States where self-enumeration has been completed, the Census staff have also begun enumerating households. House listings for approximately one crore, twenty lakh families have been completed so far.
He urged citizens to actively participate in the upcoming Census 2027, calling it a “shared responsibility of all”, and appealed to people to make the exercise a success while highlighting its digital framework and improved accessibility during the 133rd episode of his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat.
The Census 2027 will be the 16th census since the exercise began and the 8th after independence, marking a significant step with digital integration and strengthened data security. The government has approved an outlay of Rs 11,718.24 crore, with the process to be conducted in two phases — house listing between April and September 2026, followed by population enumeration in February 2027.
The first phase of the census- House Listing and Housing Census (HLO) – will take place between April and September 2026 for a duration of 30 days in each state and Union Territory, with a 15-day window for self-enumeration prior to fieldwork. This phase will collect data on housing conditions, amenities, and household assets.
The second phase, Population Enumeration, will be conducted in February 2027 and will capture detailed demographic, socio-economic, cultural, migration, and fertility-related data. For Ladakh and snow-bound regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh, this phase will be conducted in September 2026 due to climatic conditions.
Further, MA Baby launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing it of “openly buying” elected representatives and reducing politics to a marketplace.
He alleged that members of Parliament and state legislatures were being treated as commodities.
“… The BJP, the ruling party in Delhi, are engaging in open daytime looting of Parliament members belonging to other political parties… Crores of rupees are being spent and MPs and MLAs are being bought like a commodity. Political leaders are reduced to the status of commodities… This a big reminder to Indian society that this Prime Minister is out to do anything for his political survival,” he told ANI.
His remarks come after AAP MP Sanjay Singh officially petitioned the Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan to disqualify seven MPs, who recently announced a merger with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (ANI)