Individual info collected for census not made public or used in database like NRC: MHA

New Delhi: The Union home ministry on Wednesday said individual information collected for the census is not made public or used for preparation of any other database including the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and only aggregated data at various administrative levels is released.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in Rajya Sabha that the census scheduled in 2021 and related field activities got postponed until further orders due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, adding when held, it will be the first digital census with provision for self enumeration.

"The individual data collected in census under the Census Act, 1948 are not made public as per the provisions contained in the Act. Only the aggregated census data at various administrative levels are released," he said in a written reply to a question.

In the census, Rai said data is collected on demographic and various socio-economic parameters like education, SC, ST, religion, language, marriage, fertility, disability, occupation and migration of the individuals.

"The individual data are not used for the preparation of any other database including National Register of Citizens," he said.

The minister said mobile apps for collection of data and a census portal for management and monitoring of various census-related activities have been developed.

Special emphasis is given on scientifically designing the census questions for faster processing and early release of data, he said.