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Tuesday, January 07, 2025 | 04:45 PM ISTEN Hindi

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As Census looms after years of delay, questions over expenditure persist

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is also expected to gather up the unspent capex and allocation for the current fiscal to push for a massive spending effort in FY26

Countdown begins to Feb 1: FY26 Budget set to become a hallmark document
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Since the Census operation has a long lead time, it is therefore fairly certain that the numbers in Budget FY26 will show if the government is indeed planning to conduct the exercise. | Illustration: Ajay Mohanty

Subhomoy Bhattacharjee New Delhi

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The national Census is a critical guide for policymakers in terms of where best to allocate resources. However, India hasn’t had a Census, a decadal event, since 2011. The one planned for 2021 was put paid to because of the Covid19 pandemic, and consequent lockdowns.  
 
But as we enter Budget 2025 season, expenditure allocation for the Census will be a good guide to the government’s plans around the census. While it has not yet announced whether it will be doing the population count in FY26, some reports suggest that it is very much on the table. A good indicator that

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