India, Aug. 16 -- Will the census become a registry of citizens? This is now the biggest question vis-a-vis the 2027 census exercise after the government has added sections to the schedule which seek personal details of citizens, which exist in other official and non-official databases, such as Aadhaar, passport, driving licence and mobile numbers. Such details have never been sought before in a census exercise in India. Once collected, it will make the census closer to a citizens' register than just an anonymised enumeration exercise that it has always been.

The exercise has its administrative upsides and it might allow various government databases to talk to each other. But its privacy and logistical concerns might need to be weighed c...