India, Jan. 1 -- The first phase of the long-awaited census begins on April 1. Enumerators are set to fan out across the country as part of the House-Listing Operations (HLO). During this phase, information on housing conditions, including the assets and amenities of each household, will be collected. The process will yield vital data on the socio-economics India, which can inform economic policy, public policy and welfare schemes. The operation will kick off the national decadal census, data from which will also be used in delimitation exercises, or the redrawing of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies. The last census was completed in 2011, with the pandemic delaying the next such exercise, which was slated to begin in 2020.
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