Asia | Groping in the dark

Postponing India’s census is terrible for the country

But it may suit Narendra Modi just fine

In this photograph taken on October 31, 2022, people walk through a crowded commercial street in Chennai. - India is projected to see an explosion in its urban population in the coming decades, but its cities already cannot cope and climate change will make living conditions harsher still. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP) / To go with 'India-Population-Climate-Health', FOCUS (Photo by ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images) — Image: Getty Images

Jan 5th 2023|DELHI

Three years ago India’s government was scheduled to pose its citizens a long list of basic but important questions. How many people live in your house? What is it made of? Do you have a toilet? A car? An internet connection? The answers would refresh data from the country’s previous census in 2011, which, given India’s rapid development, were wildly out of date. Because of India’s covid-19 lockdown, however, the questions were never asked.

Almost three years later, and though India has officially left the pandemic behind, there has been no attempt to reschedule the decennial census. It may not happen until after parliamentary elections in 2024, or at all. Opposition politicians and development experts smell a rat.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "An area of darkness"