New Delhi, July 23 -- Originally scheduled for 2021 as part of India's decennial census series, Census 2027 is finally being conducted after a delay of six years. Its results are eagerly awaited.

The Census is the only database at a disaggregated level of villages in rural areas and wards in urban. It is useful for any policymaker interested in micro-planning at the level of districts and blocks, but is also vital for many pro-poor schemes for which allocations are linked to population estimates.

More importantly, it is the foundation of India's statistical system, providing the base for a sampling frame for all surveys of the National Statistical Office. An outdated sampling base leads to biased estimates and raises questions over thei...