Opinion Counting Kasab

Kasab,who is now in Arthur Road jail and is waiting confirmation of his death penalty,will be included in the Census.

New DelhiFebruary 9, 2011 05:26 PM IST First published on: Feb 9, 2011 at 05:26 PM IST

There is reason to feel surprised. Ajmal Kasab is now in Arthur Road jail and is waiting for Bombay High Courts confirmation of his death penalty. He will be included in the Census.

Census has a category called institutional household,defined as,A group of unrelated persons who live in an institution and take their meals from a common kitchen is called an Institutional Household. Examples of Institutional Households are boarding houses,messes,hostels,hotels,rescue homes,jails,ashrams,orphanages,etc.

So such inmates are counted,as they should be. One often has the wrong impression that Census is about enumerating Indians. Thats not true. Census is about enumerating those who reside in India. In Census,every person irrespective of age,sex,caste,creed,region,origin or religion is counted only once,without omission or duplication provided she/he satisfied the criteria of enumeration Foreigners who are expected to stay within the geographical limits of this country throughout the enumeration period are to be counted wherever they are found,if not enumerated elsewhere. Those foreigners who are expected to stay in India for a part of enumeration period are not eligible for enumeration. The only exception is for foreigners and their families who have diplomatic status.

Arthur Road jail is within Indias geographic limits and Ajmal Kasab has to be counted wherever he is found. And because we cannot decide fast enough about his death penalty,he will be there throughout the enumeration period,which for Census 2011 happens to be 9th to 28th February,with revisions between 1st and 5th March. (Some snow-bound areas were covered earlier.) Since Census or UID is about residency,not citizenship,Kasab should get an UID number too. There is a template of questions the enumerator asks and I am intrigued about answers Kasab will give to some of these questions.

Worked any time during last year,including part time help,unpaid work on farm,family enterprise or in any other economic activity; Category of economic activity; Occupation; Nature of industry,trade or service where the person worked; Non economic activity (for marginal worker or non worker); Place of last residence; Reason for migration. Instead of going to town about Kasab being included in Census,media should report about answers to these questions.

Jail authorities have apparently been trained in answering these questions,presumably on behalf of prisoners. But even then,answers for Kasab cant be easy.