Census: Where will it take us?

Paik, Saswati (2010) Census: Where will it take us? Geospatial World.

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Abstract

In India the Registrar General of Census conducts the census operations at an interval of 10 years. In the uninterrupted series of decennial censuses of India since 1872 the 14th or the Millennium Census is due on 1st March 2001. The proposed census for 2001, com-ing at the crossroad of the millen-nium, is supposed to provide a benchmark at a turning point in the history. It is supposed to be more meaningful from development point of view. Census data, which is much useful for generating economic and demographic profiles, may focus on the effective distribution of financial utilities in the rural and urban areas. The idea regarding the benefits of the development strategies like ‘Poverty Alleviation Programme’ etc. may be derived with the help of the data on the number of customers of banks, especially in the rural areas. The identification of the existing non-beneficiaries or non-customers all over the country should necessarily be identified to have a broader idea about the regional disparities in the economic development. The census alone can enlighten this sector as both the All India Debt and Investment Survey by the Reserve Bank of India and the Consumer Expenditure Surveys of National Sample Survey Organisation are unable to provide the same. It is remarkable that the bank customer data of 2001 AD would indicate the effectiveness of public sector banking for last forty years in India. On the basis of such data the mode of preference (for providing banking facility) to be given to various places/states might be easy to finalise to achieve overall sustainable development.

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Paik, Saswati

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