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)](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20230107_ASP501.jpg)
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would refresh data from the country’s previous census in 2011, which, given India’s rapid development, were wildly out of date.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.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “An area of darkness”
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