New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday asked the government to immediately start the decadal census as well as caste census, saying a large number of people are being left out of welfare schemes due to the delay.
Expressing concern over the delay in conducting the decadal census during the Zero Hour in the House, the senior Congress leader said India has been conducting a census every 10 years since 1881.
It was conducted even during wars, emergencies, or other crises.
He recalled that back in 1931, a caste census was conducted along with the regular census.
Right before the 1931 census, Mahatma Gandhi had said that just like 'we need periodic medical checkups to assess our health, a census is the most important checkup for a nation', Kharge stated.
He said the census is a crucial exercise and involves a large number of people who collect data not just on population but also on employment, family structures, socio-economic conditions, and several other key aspects.
Even during major events like World War II and the India-Pakistan war of 1971-72, the census was conducted.
"But it is unfortunate that for the first time in history, the government has made a record delay (in conducting census)", he said.
Kharge further said that along with the general census, a caste census is also possible because the government already collects data on Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), so it could collect data on other castes as well.
"But the government is silent on both the census and caste census," he said.
He noted that 81 percent of the countries in the world have successfully completed censuses despite Covid.
He said no clear statement is being made by the government regarding census in India.
Kharge said this year's budget has allocated only Rs 575 crore for the census which shows the government is unwilling to conduct it, Kharge said, and added delaying the census has serious consequences.
Without accurate and updated data, policies become arbitrary and ineffective.
He said several crucial surveys and welfare programs — such as the Consumer Survey, National Family Health Survey, Periodic Labour Force Survey, National Food Security Act, and National Social Assistance Programme — rely on census data.
Due to the delay in the census, a large number of people are being left out of welfare schemes.
Policymakers are making decisions without reliable and up-to-date data.
"Thus, I urge the government to immediately start the decadal census. Caste census and census should be conducted at the earliest," the senior Congress leader said.
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Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).