Why India's census is in trouble

Opposition to additional questions on parents in the NPR exercise could make the data less reliable

From April 1, the Union government will begin an exercise that is likely to traumatise the population and exhaust the bureaucracy and the state. Enumerators for the National Population Register (NPR) will fan out across India for six months between April and September to engage with 250 million households to do the census headcount and gather some additional data. 
 

Opponents of the NPR say that the additional questions on parents make the NPR a lethal weapon that will authorise low level administrative officers to mark individuals as doubtful citizens. This will strip them of voting rights, and begin a process