AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday, June 5, 2026, accused the Narendra Modi government of compromising the integrity of the Census of India to avoid political embarrassment, and flagged that the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS) has dropped questions on open defecation and cooking fuel use.

Context

Invoking the well-known aphorism — 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics' — Owaisi argued that the government is manipulating the data ecosystem rather than being held accountable by it. He stated that census data is 'essential for delimitation, development schemes and food security,' and that the Modi government is 'putting the integrity of census at risk just so that it's not embarrassed.'

The 15th Census of India, originally scheduled for 2021, was postponed citing the COVID-19 pandemic. As of mid-2026, no fresh date has been officially announced, making it the longest gap in India's post-independence census history.

Policy Backdrop

The census delay carries significant constitutional consequences. The 84th Constitutional Amendment (2002) froze the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats on the basis of the 1971 census until 2026 — meaning the first census conducted after 2026 will trigger a redrawing of parliamentary constituencies. States with slower population growth fear losing seats, while faster-growing states stand to gain, making the timing of the census politically charged.

On the NFHS front, both NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21) included questions on open defecation and cooking fuel access — metrics directly tied to the government's flagship Swachh Bharat Mission and Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. Owaisi's post alleges these indicators have been dropped from the latest survey round, removing a key independent check on the reported outcomes of those schemes.

Stakeholders and Impact

The absence of updated census data has real-world consequences for welfare delivery. Food security entitlements under the National Food Security Act, MGNREGS allocations, and state-wise fund transfers under finance commission formulas all rely on population figures. Stale 2011 census data means millions of beneficiaries in high-growth states may be undercounted.

State governments — particularly those in southern India — have raised concerns that a fresh census followed by delimitation could reduce their representation in Parliament relative to more populous northern states. Opposition parties, including AIMIM, argue the delay protects the ruling coalition's electoral arithmetic at the cost of accurate governance data.

Civil society organisations and public health researchers have also flagged the removal of sanitation and clean-cooking indicators from the NFHS questionnaire, warning it will make independent programme evaluation harder.

What's Next

Any official notification announcing the 16th Census schedule will be closely watched, as will the final questionnaire for NFHS-6 to confirm which indicators have been retained or dropped. Parliamentary standing committees and, potentially, the Supreme Court of India could be approached to enforce timelines under census legislation.

With the 2026 delimitation deadline now passed without a fresh census, the constitutional and electoral implications will intensify pressure on the government to act — and on opposition parties to sustain scrutiny over data transparency.