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CensusofIndiaCensusTerms

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CensusTerms
ImplicationofTermsUsedinIndianCensuses
ThequestionsandtheconceptsusedindifferentcensusesenableustoevaluatethetrendsintheIndianCensuses.Significantchangeshavebeenmadein
thecensusquestionnairesrightfrom1872to1971census.

CensusHouse,HouseholdsorCensusFamily
CensusHouse: The term 'house' in India covers the greatest diversity of dwellings. In 1872 a house was defined as "any permanent structure
which on land, serves or would serve for the accommodation of human beings, or of animals, or goods of any description provided always that it
could not be struck and removed bodily like a tent or a mud hut". An attempt was also made to classify the houses as of the 'better sort' and of
'inferiorsort'.Inthecensusof1881housewasdefinedasthedwellingplaceofoneormorefamilieswiththierservants,havingaseparateprincipal
entrancefromthepublicway.Thesamedefinitionwithslightmodificationcontinuedtill1951.In1961census'House'wasdefinedasastructureor
partofastructureinhabitedorvacant,oradwelling,ashop,ashopcumdwellingoraplaceofbusiness,workshop,schooletc.Withaseparatemain
entrance. In 1971 census, 'House' was defined 'as a building or part of a building having a separate main entrance from the road or common
courtyardorstaircaseetc.Usedorrecognisedasaseparateunit.Itmaybeinhabitedorvacant.Itmaybeusedforaresidentialornonresidential
purposeorboth'.

FamilyorHousehold:Thehousehold or family was first defined in 1872 as comprising of those who lived together and ordinarily cooked at the
samehearthincludingtheirservantsandvisitors.In1881Censusitwasdefinedascomprisingofallthosepersonswhoactuallysleptinthehouseor
compound on the night of 17th February, 1881. From 1891 till 1941 the term 'family' was used in place of Household. From 1951 Census onward
againtheconceptofhouseholdwasusedin Indian Censuses. In 1971 Census a household was defined as 'a group of persons who commonly live
togetherandwouldtaketheirmealsfromacommonkitchenunlesstheexigenciesofworkpreventedanyofthemfromdoingso'.

Age
Theconceptofagechangedfromcensustocensus.In1872,age'nextbirthday'wasrecorded.From1881to1921andalsoin1951,agecompleted
on the 'last birthday'' was recorded. In 1931 age 'nearest birthday' was recorded. In 1941 Census, the age was recorded 'in years and month'. In
1961Census,'agelastbirthday'wasrecorded.In1971Censustheageofthepersonintotalyearscompletedlastbirthdaywasrecorded.
Thedirectquestiononageatlastbirthdayismoreeconomicaltoprocessbutmayyieldlesspreciseresults,sinceitmoreeasilypermitsapproximate
replies.Withalltheshortcomingsofthequestiononage,IndianCensushasbeenattemptingtoit,andthequestionisboundtocontinuetobeasked
infuturecensuses.

MaritalStatus
Information on 'Marital Status' was collected for the first time in 1881 Census. From 1881 to 1931 censuses, the population was classified into
married,unmarried,widowedorwidower.Noinformationwascollectedregarding'divorce'.Divorcedpersonswereenteredaswidowersfrom1901to
1931. It was only in 1941 census that the divorced persons were recorded separately. In 1951 Census, the marital status of the persons was
recordedasunmarried,married,widowedanddivorced.
Nochangeinthedefinitionofmaritalstatuswasmadein1961censusexceptthattheterm'unmarried'wasreplacedby'nevermarried'.'Separated'
wasaddedwith'Divorced'.Themaritalstatusoftheprostituteswasrecordedasdeclaredbythem.In1971Censusthemaritalstatusofapersonwas
recordedunderthefollowingheads:
(1)Nevermarried
(2)Married
(3)Widowed
(4)SeparatedorDivorced.

PlaceofBirth
From 1881 to 1971 the question on the Place of Birth was recorded with a view to study the migration of the population. The name of the district
wherethepersonwasbornwasrecorded.IncasethepersonwasnotbornintheStateofEnumeration,theProvinceofbirthwasalso recorded. In
1961twoquestionsonmigrationinadditiontothePlaceofBirthwerealsoputtotheindividualsnamely:
(i)WhetherborninVillageorTownand
(ii)DurationofResidenceifbornelsewhere.
In all censuses from 1881 to 1971, if a person was born outside the Indian Union, the name of the country was also recorded. The duration of
residenceofapersonintheplaceofenumerationhadbeenaskedinthe1961censustoimprovethemigrationstatisticsascomparedtotheprevious
censuses.Butstill,therearecertainimplicationsofusingsuchdataformakingadetailedinquiryonmigration.Fromthesequestionsonmigration,no
information can be had regarding the multiple migration of the individuals. The migration statistics collected in the 1961 census are correct if the
individualhasmovedstraightfromhisplaceofbirthtotheplaceofenumeration.Butinactualpracticethemigrationmaybemorethanonce.Also,
even if a person had been born at the place of enumeration, he might have been migrating from place to place and finally settled at the place of
enumeration,hisomissionasmigrantisnotjustified.Formakinganythoroughinvestigationregardingthemigrationof population, it is essential to
probeintothereasonsofmigration.
In1971census'Birthplace'wasagainrecordedinrespectofeachperson.Ifthepersonwasbornoutsidethevillageortownofenumerationitwas
ascertainedwhethertheplacewasruralorurban.Iftheplaceofbirthwasoutsidethedistrict,thenameofthedistrictifbornoutsidetheStatethe
name of the State/Union Territory and if born outside the Indian Union the name of the Country was also recorded. In 1971 the migrational
particulars with reference to the place of last residence were also collected which yielded valuable and realistic data on internal migration. The
informationwasrecordedunderthefollowingheads:
(a)Placeoflastresidence
(b)Rural/Urban
(c)District
(d)State/Country

RuralandUrbanareas
Village or Town is recognised as the basic area of habitation. In all censuses throughout the world this dishotomy of Rural and Urban areas is
recognisedandthedataaregenerallypresentedfortheruralandurbanareasseparately.Intheruralareasthesmallestareaofhabitation,viz.,the

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village generally follows the limits of a revenue village that is recognised by the normal district administration. The revenue village need not
necessarily be a single agglomeration of the habitations. But the revenue village has a definite surveyed boundary and each village is a separate
administrative unit with separate village accounts. It may have one or more hamlets. The entire revenue village is one unit. There may be
unsurveyedvillageswithinforestsetc.,wherethelocallyrecognisedboundariesofeachhabitationareaisfollowedwithinthelargerunitofsaythe
forestrangeofficersjurisdiction.
ItisindefiningtheUrbansareasthatproblemsgenerallyarise.Howeverforthe1971Censusthedefinitionadoptedforanurbanareawhichfollows
thepatternof1961wasasfollows:
(a)allplaceswithaMunicipality,CorporationorCantonmentorNotifiedTownArea
(b)allotherplaceswhichsatisfiedthefollowingcriteria:
(i)aminimumpopulationof5,000.
(ii)atleast75%ofthemaleworkingpopulationwasnonagricultural.
(iii)adensityofpopulationofatleast400sq.Km.(i.e.1000persq.Mile)
TheDirectorofCensusofeachState/UnionTerritorywas,however,givensomediscretioninrespectofsomemarginalcases,inconsultationwiththe
StateGovt.,toincludesomeplacesthathadotherdistincturbancharacteristicsandtoexcludeundeservingcases.

StandardUrbanareas
Anewconceptthathadbeendevelopedforthe1971CensusforthetabulationofcertainurbandatawastheStandardUrbanArea.Theessentialofa
StandardUrbanAreaare:
(i)itshouldhaveacoretownofaminimumpopulationsizeof50,000,
(ii)thecontiguousareasmadeupofotherurbanaswellasruraladministrativeunitsshouldhavecloseutualsocio
economiclinkswiththecoretownand
(iii)theprobabilitiesarethatthisentireareawillgetfullyurbanisedinaperiodoftwotothreedecades.
Theideaisthatitshouldbepossibletoprovidecomparabledataforadefiniteareaofurbanisationcontinuouslyforthreedecadeswhichwouldgivea
meaningfulpicture.ThisreplacedtheconceptsofTownGroupthatwasinvogueatthe1961Census.Thetowngroupwasmadeupofindependent
urbanunitsnotnecessarilycontiguoustooneanotherbutweretosomeextentinterdependent.Thedataforsuchtowngroupsbecameincomparable
fromcensustocensusastheboundariesofthetownsthemselveschangedandtheintermediateareaswereleftoutofaccount this concept came
forcriticismatoneofthesymposiumoftheInternationalGeographicUnioninNov.Dec.1968andtheconcept of Standard Urban Area came to be
developedforadoptionatthe1971Census.IfdataforthisStandardAreaweretobemadeavailableinthenexttwoorthreesuccessivecensusesit
islikelytoyieldmuchmoremeaningfulpicturetostudyurbanisationaroundlargeurbannuclei.

Religion
Thequestionon'Religion'wasaskedfromeachindividualsincethebeginningofthecensus1872.In1971thereligionofeachindividualasreutrned
byhimwasrecorded.In1881thecasteifHinduandthesectofthereligionotherthanHinduwasrecorded.In1891besidesthereligion,thequestion
onthesectofthereligionandin1911thesectofChristianwasalsorecorded.In1931thequestionwaswordedas'ReligionandSect'.Inrestofthe
censuses,noinformationwascollectedonthesectofthereligion.

Nationality
Thequestionon'Nationality'wasaskedin1872censusandafterthatitappearedonlyin1951and1961Censuses.Themajorcriterionofnationality
wasethnicoriginandnotcitizenship.In1971thequestionwasdropped.

Caste,TribeorRace
The question on Caste, Tribe or Race was asked from each individual right from 1872, though the type of information collected was different in
different censuses. In 1881, caste if Hindi sect if of othe religion, were recorded. In 1891 Main Caste and Subdivision of caste or race was
recorded.In1901and1911censuses,thecasteofHindusandJainstribeorraceofthoseofotherreligionswererecorded.In1921,1931and 1941
censuses, caste, tribe or race of all the individuals enumerated was recorded. In the 1931 Census, tabulation of figures for individual castes was
limitedto:
(i)Exteriorcastes
(ii)Primitivecastesand
(iii)Allothercasteswiththeexceptionof:
(a)thosewhosemembersfellshortoffourperthousandofthetotalpopulationand
(b)thoseforwhichseparatefiguresweredeemedtobeunnecessarybythelocalGovernment.
PursuantofthepolicyoftheGovt.OfIndiatodiscouragecommunitydistinctionbasedonCaste,the1951Censusmarkedacompletedeparturefrom
thetraditionalrecordingofRace,TribeorCasteandtheonlyrelevantquestiononcasteortribeincorporatedintheCensusSchedulewastoenquire
if the person enumerated was a member of any 'Scheduled Caste', or any 'Scheduled Tribe' or any other 'Backward class' or if he was an 'Anglo
Indian'.
In1961and1971CensusestheinformationwascollectedonlyforeachScheduledCasteandScheduledTribe.

Literacy
Theinformationonliteracywascollectedinallcensuses.Thedefinitionofliteracyhadbeen'bothabilitytoreadandwriteinanylanguage.Inallthe
censuses besides data on literacy, additional information was also collected. In 1872 the information about 'youths upto age 20 attending school,
collegeorunderprivatetuition'wasrecorded.In1881Census,theinformationwascollectedwhethertheindividualswereunderinstructionornot,if
not,whethertheywereabletoreadandwrite.In1891Census,besidestheinformationregardingthelanguageinwhichthepersonwasliteratethe
foreignlanguageknown(ifany)wasalsorecorded.From1901to1941censuses,therewasanadditionalquestionwhethertheliterateknewEnglish
or not. Information on the standard of education was collected for the first time in 1941 census and after that it was asked in every subsequent
censuses.In1971theinformationonLiteracyandEducationallevelwascollectedfromeachindividual.

Mothertongue
From1881Censusonward,thequestion on mothertongue was included in the census though it was put to the enumerators differently in different
censuses. In the censuses of 1881, 1931, 1941 and 1951, the question was 'Mothertongue'. The mothertongue was defined as the language first
spokenbytheindividualfromthecradle.In1891Census,thequestionwas'Parenttongue'whichhadbeendefinedasthelanguagespokenbythe
parentoftheindividual.In1901Census,'Parenttongue'wasreplacedby'Languageordinarilyused'.In1911thequestionwas'languageordinarily
spokeninthehousehold'.In1921thequestionwassimply'Languageordinarilyused'.ThequestiononMothertonguewasrepeatedfrom census to
censusfrom1931to1971.In1971Census,themothertonguewasdefinedas"languagespokeninchildhoodbytheperson'smothertotheperson.
Ifthemotherdiedininfancythelanguagemainlyspokenintheperson'shomeinchildhoodwasrecordedastheMothertongue'.In1931and1941
censuses the information about 'Other language in common use' was also collected. Similarly in 1951 and 1961 Indian Censuses besides Mother
tongue a question 'Bilingualism' was also prescribed in the Census Schedule. In 1971 Census, the information on 'Other languages' was again
collectedfromeachindividual.

EconomicActivity
Theinformationoneconomicactivityoftheindividualwascollectedrightfromthe1872census.Inthecensusesof1872and1881onlyonequestion
relatingto'occupation'wasaskedfromtheindividualsandthepersonswereclassifiedaccordingtothevariousoccupations.In1891theconceptof
'meansofsubsistence'wasintroduced.Thequestiononmeansof subsistence was recorded in case of every individual. In case of dependents the
occupationofthepersononwhomtheyweredependentwasrecorded.From1901to1921theinformationonprincipalandsubsidiaryoccupationor

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meansofsubsistenceofactualworkerswasrecorded.Incaseofdependents,theoccupationofthepersonsonwhomtheyweredependentwasalso
recorded.Inallthesecensusestheterm'actualworker'alsoincludedpersonswhowereinreceiptofincomewithoutdoingworksuchasrentiersand
pensionersetc.In1931Census,theterm'actualworker'wasreplacedbythe'earner'.Thepopulationwasclassifiedasearners,workingdependents
andnonworkingdependents.ThePrincipalandsubsidiaryoccupationofeachworkerwasrecorded.Occupationofdependentswasrecordedunder
thecaption'subsidiaryoccupation'.Besides,theIndustryinwhichapersonwasemployedwasalsonoted.In1941Census'Meansof Livelihood, in
orderofimportance'wasrecordedinrespectofeachworker.Itwasalsoenquiredwhetheraparticularmeansof livelihood existed throughout the
year, if not, for what part of the year. If a person was employed by someone else, the information about his business was also noted. In case of
'dependent'itwasenquiredwhetherhewaswhollyorpartlydependentonanyoneelse.Ifso,meansoflivelihoodofpersononwhomdependentwas
recorded.Theinformationrelatingtotheemploymentof(a)paidassistants,(b)membersofhouseholdwasalsocollected.Thequestionon'Areyou
inemploymentnow?Wasalsoaskedinregardtomeansoflivelihoodofapersonshownaspartlydependent.Owingtowarthetabulationof 1941
Census was greatly curtailed. But Shri Yeatts, the Census Commissioner for India, shrewdly decided to retain a 2 per cent random sample of the
originalindividualcensusslipsofeachstate.OntherecommendationsofthePopulationDataCommitteetheGovernmentofIndiadecidedtoentrust
the YSample slips in 1945, to the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta where the information in the slips was transferred to Hollerith cards. From
thesecardsMeansofLivelihoodandIndustriesTableswerepreparedforthestates for which no such tables had been prepared at the time of the
1941Census.The'MeansofLivelihood'tableswerepreparedforthewholeStateandalsoforitsconstituentdistricts.IntheStatetable,thenumber
ofindependentorselfsupportingpersonshavingtheirprincipalmeansoflivelihoodindifferentoccupationalgroups(classifiedaccordingtotheclass
ofsubsidiarymeansoflivelihood,ifany)wereshown.Thenumberofpartlydependentsfollowinganyspecifiedoccupationastheir'SupportingMeans
ofLivelihood'wasalsogiven.Inthedistricttables,however,suchinformationwasgivenonlybybroaderoccupationalgroups.ThetableonIndustrial
classification of persons was prepared only for the State as a whole. This showed the number of workers (employees)engaged in the different
Industries(groups)classifiedaccordingtotheclassofworker.
The 1951 Census ascertained the two economic characterisitcs of every individualhis economic status and his means of livelihood. The following
threequestionswereprescribed:
(i)EconomicStatus
PartOne:Dependency
Parttwo:Employment
(ii)PrincipalMeansofLivelihood
(iii)SecondaryMeansofLivelihood.
Accordingtoeconomicstatuseverypersonwasclassifiedas"aselfsupportingperson"or"anearningdependent"or"anonearningdependent".The
termsweredefinedasfollows:
SelfSupporting:Apersonwhowasinreceiptofanincome,whetherincashorkind,whichwassufficientatleastforhisownmaintenancewas
regardedasaselfsupportingperson.
Nonearningdependent:Apersonwhodidnotsecureanyincome,incash,orkind,andwaswhollydependentontheearningofsomeoneelse
wasregardedasanonearningdependent.
Earning dependent: A person who secured a regular income but whose income was not sufficient to support him was regarded as earning
dependent.
Itwasfoundthattheconceptofdependencyadoptedin1951censushadatendencytosuppresstheimportantsectorofworkersasaconsequence
ofwhichthenumberofeconomicallyactivepersonsengagedinagricultureandtraditionalcottageindustriesandserviceswherewomenweremainly
employed showed very little increase compared to the increase in general population. It was felt that by the introduction of income, persons who
workedinfamilyenterpriseswithoutwagesincashorkindbutwhosharedtheprofitswerelikelytobeomitted.Thiswassoespeciallyinthecaseof
familieswhopartakeinhouseholdcultivation.Itwas,therefore,decidedthattheeconomicdatain1961shouldbecollectedonthebasisofworki.e.
thepopulationshouldbedividedintotwoclasses,'Workers'and'Nonworkers'.Thebasisofworkadoptedin1961censuswasasfollows:
Inthecaseofseasonalworklikecultivation,livestock,dairying,householdindustries,etc.,ifapersonhadsomeregularworkofmorethanonehour
a day throughout the greater part of the working season, he was to be regarded as a worker. In the case of regular employment in any trade,
profession,service,businessorcommercethebasisforworkwouldbesatisfiedifthepersonwasemployedduringanyofthefifteendayspreceding
the day on which he was enumerated. A person who was working but was absent from his work during the fifteen days preceding the day of
enumerationduetoillnessorothercausewasaworker.Apersonwhowasofferedworkbuthadnotactuallyjoinedwastreatedasanonworker.A
personundertrainingasapprenticewithorwithoutstipendorwageswasregardedasaworker.Anadultwomanengagedinhouseholddutiesbutnot
doing any productive work, to augment the family resources was considered as nonworker. Persons like beggars, pensioners, etc., who received
incomewithoutdoinganyworkwereregardedasnonworkers.Apublicorsocialserviceworkerwhowasactivelyengagedinpublicserviceactivitity
or a political worker who was actively engaged in furthering the political activity of his part was regard as a 'worker'. The worker was further
classifiedintooneormoreoffollowinggroups:
1.WorkingasCultivator,
2.WorkingasAgriculturallabourer,
3.WorkingatHouseholdIndustry,
4.Doingworkotherthan(1),(2)and(3).
In1971Censusconsiderabledeparturewasmadeinrespectoftheeconomicquestions.Themainactivityofapersonwasascertainedaccordingas
he spent his time basically as a worker producing goods and services or as a nonworker. For regular work in Industry, Trade or Services the
reference period was the week prior to the enumeration and for seasonal work such as agriculture the last one year. Work involved not only the
actualworkbutalsoeffectivesupervisionanddirectionofwork.Thepersonwascategorisedaccordingtothemainactivityreturnedbyanindividual.
Theclassificationsadoptedwereasfollows:
(i)WorkingasCultivator
(ii)WorkingasAgriculturalLabourer
(iii)WorkingatHouseholdIndustry'and
(iv)OtherWorkers.
IncaseofHouseholdIndustryorOtherworktheinformationrelatingtoPlaceofwork,(NameofVillageorTown),Nameofestablishment,Natureof
Industry, Trade, Profession, or Service, Descritpion of work and Class of Worker was recorded. Secondary work was also recorded in respect of
persons who had returned some work as his main activity. Where a person who was basically a nonworker such as a student or housewife, did
makesomemarginalcontributiontowork,itwasrecordedundersecondarywork.Experienceofthe1961censushadshownthatcensuswasnot a
properagencytocollectreliabledataonunemploymentassuch.Thereforethe1971Censusdidnotaskaquestiononunemploymentdirectlybutthe
unemployedwereexpectedtofallintheresiduarycategoryofnonworkers.

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