India Should Know How Many People It Has. It Doesn’t
Millions may be unable to vote because official records are so flawed.
Indians often struggle to prove their right to vote.
Photographer: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images
India may have 1.4 billion people, or thereabouts. It’s probably the world’s most populous country, and may have overtaken China in 2023. We can’t say for sure, because it doesn’t know how many it governs, where they live, or how many are citizens. A census has not been conducted since 2011, the registration of births and deaths was minimal for decades, and it’s rare to have detailed documents.
In states like Bihar, this problem is magnified. Home to 130 million but with a human development score similar to Haiti or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bihar is crucial to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s national hold on power. So it isn’t surprising that politics in India right now revolves entirely around the state’s election in the fall.