Talk:Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India

Misunderstanding
The article gives a wrong impression that Registrar General and Census Commissioner India was established "in 1961 by Government of India Ministry of Home Affairs, for arranging, conducting and analysing the results of the demographic surveys of India including Census of India and Linguistic Survey of India". This is factually incorrect.

A Commissioner used to be appointed for conducting the census in the Ministry of Home Affairs. In 1940s it was decided to transfer the work of registration of births and deaths to the Home Ministry from Health Ministry. This prompted appointment of a Registrar General, India. (There was no such position under any law at that time). After Independence, India also decided to have a Census Act that provided for the appointment of a Census Commissioner to to be in charge of the census, once government decided to conduct a census. It was decided to bring these two offices together and the Office of registrar General and Census Commissioner was thus born in the late forties.

It may be noted that Census Commissioners are to be appointed only when a census is to be conducted. So it can be said that it is not a permanent off

However, with the passage of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 a Registrar General, India had to be appointed. This position is a permanent one. Thus the office of the Registrar general is a permanent office unlike that of the census commissioner.

With the notification of the Citizenship(Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, Registrar General, India also became the Registrar General of Citizen Registration.

Thus, "arranging, conducting and analysing the results of the demographic surveys of India including Census of India and Linguistic Survey of India" is not the main function of the office, though it takes more time and manpower.

--Unnikn (talk) 14:51, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

The 1881 census is omitted.Seadowns (talk) 10:19, 18 April 2019 (UTC)