The Census Act, 1948 (Act No. 37 of 1948) is a central legislation that provides the legal framework for conducting the population census in India. It was enacted on September 3, 1948, to provide for matters connected with the taking of a census whenever the Central Government deems it necessary or desirable. The Act applies to the whole of India.
The Act empowers the Central Government to decide when a census will be conducted and to appoint a Census Commissioner and Directors of Census Operations. A key mechanism is the mandatory nature of participation: individuals are legally bound under Section 8(2) to provide accurate information to census officials. Conversely, the Act ensures confidentiality, as information collected is protected and cannot be used for non-census purposes, nor is it admissible as evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding, except for a prosecution under the Act itself. Census authorities, including the Census Commissioner and census officers, are deemed public servants under the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
The Act connects to the constitutional provision that places the population census under the Union List (Entry 69 of the Seventh Schedule) as a Union subject under Article 246. It was amended in 1994 to update certain provisions. More recently, the Census Rules, 1990 were amended by the Census (Amendment) Rules, 2022 on March 11, 2022. This amendment introduced the concept of self-enumeration, allowing a person to fill up and submit the census schedule in an electronic form themselves, alongside the traditional paper form.