Census Organization

The Indian Census is the largest single source of various statistical information on various characteristics of the people of India. With a history of more than 130 years, this reliable, time-tested exercise is bringing in a real insight into the data every 10 years, beginning in the year 1872 when the first census was conducted non-synchronously in different parts of India.The Indian Census has been an attractive source of data for scholars and researchers in demography, economics, anthropology, sociology, statistics and many other disciplines. The rich diversity of India's people is indeed revealed by the decadal census, which has become a tool for understanding and studying India.

The responsibility of conducting the decadal census rests with the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. It may be of historical interest that although the population census of India is a major administrative task; Census organization was set up on an ad-hoc basis for each census till the year 1951 census. The Census Act was enacted in the year 1948 to provide a plan for conducting population census along with the duties and responsibilities of census officers.The Government of India decided in May 1949 to take steps to develop a systematic collection of data on population size, its growth, etc. and set up an organization in the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Registrar General of India and ex-officio Census Commissioner. This organization was created to prepare data on population figures including vital statistics and census. Later, this office was also entrusted with the task of implementation of the Birth and Death Registration Act, 1969 in the country.

The Census Commissioner from the 1881 census to 1941 and thereafter the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India from 1949 onwards, are shown below:

Census Organization of India - A family of 34 numbers of Directorates of Census Operations is functioning under the aegis of its Headquarters - Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, New Delhi.