States Struggle to Answer Demography Panel Religion-wise Data Queries

Key Highlights & Summary 

• State governments are unable to answer most queries of the High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes (HLCDC), set up under the Union Home Ministry, as departments do not ordinarily maintain data on a religion-wise basis. 

• The panel has sought religion-wise records for the past 15 years on birth registrations, school enrolment, vehicle registrations and property transactions. 

• It has also asked for district-wise details of religious structures, unusual increases in Aadhaar registrations and voter ID registrations. 

• States have been asked to collate data on Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Parsis and Buddhists across all categories. 

• State officials said the set of 35 questions was difficult to answer, as the secular construct of the Constitution prohibits the collection of data under religious categories. 

 • The exercise raises concerns over data privacy, administrative feasibility and the possible communal profiling of citizens.

 Essential Definitions

 • Demographic change: Shift in the size, composition and distribution of a population, driven by fertility, mortality, migration and conversion. 

• Secularism: The principle that the State maintains neutrality towards all religions and does not discriminate on grounds of faith. It is part of the Basic Structure of the Constitution. 

• Disaggregated data: Information broken down by subcategories such as religion, gender or district, used for targeted policy design.

 • Civil Registration System (CRS): Compulsory registration of births and deaths in India, which does not record religion-wise statistics in aggregate reports. 

Legal and Constitutional Framework

 • Preamble: Declares India a secular republic, inserted through the 42nd Amendment, 1976. 

• Articles 25 to 28: Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion; State has no official religion. 

• Article 15(1): Prohibits discrimination by the State on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. • Article 14: Equality before law and equal protection of laws.

 • Article 21: Right to privacy recognised in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017), which affects collection and use of personal data.

 • S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994): Secularism held to be a Basic Structure feature. 

• Census Act, 1948 and Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969: Statutory basis for population and vital statistics.

 • Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023: Governs processing of digital personal data, including sensitive information.

 Conclusion Data is essential for evidence-based policy, but collecting it along religious lines requires clear purpose, safeguards and transparency. The State must balance legitimate demographic analysis against constitutional secularism, privacy and social harmony, ensuring data is never used for profiling or discrimination. 

UPSC Relevance

 • Prelims: Secularism, Articles 25 to 28, Census Act, HLCDC, Puttaswamy judgment, DPDP Act. 

• Mains GS-I: Population and associated issues, communalism, diversity of India.

 • Mains GS-II: Federal issues between Union and States, fundamental rights, data governance and privacy. 

• Mains GS-IV: Ethics in public administration, objectivity and non-partisanship. 

• Essay and Interview: Themes like \'Data versus dignity\' and \'Secularism in a diverse democracy\'.