Explained | How can citizens file Census details online?

The story so far: India had conducted the Census every 10 years since 1881, but in 2020, the decennial exercise for Census 2021 had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Editorial | Time to count: On government’s delay in conducting census The NPR, unlike the Census, is a comprehensive identity database of every “usual resident” in the country and the data proposed to be collected at the family level can be shared with States and other government departments. Though the government has claimed that the NPR form has not been finalised yet, the sample form is part of the Census of India 2021 Handbook for Principal/District Census Officers and Charge Officers in 2021. According to the Handbook, that was pulled down from the Census website after a report published in The Hindu in 2021, the NPR has retained contentious questions such as “mother tongue, place of birth of father and mother and last place of residence”, possible indicators to determine inclusion in the citizenship register. The deleted Handbook said that it is “mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.” Census is also a mandatory exercise and giving false information is a punishable offence.