China’s census complicated by citizens’ reluctance to reveal personal details

BEIJING - China’s once-a-decade census, which was launched on November 1, is being complicated by a new reluctance on the part of citizens to disclose information or expose violations of the one-child policy.

A booming migrant population is also reportedly exacerbating the problem.

According to The Christian Science Monitor, China launched a once-in-a-decade census with an intention to form a basis for policymaking in the world’s most populous country, but it is likely to face resistance from residents wary of government officials.

According to Chinese officials, the biggest challenge of the 10-day campaign would be to confirm the actual number of migrant workers, who are estimated to number more than 200 million.

Parents who have violated the government’s one-child policy have been promised reduced fines if they declare their extra children to census takers, the paper said.

Feng Nailin, deputy head of the census project, said that census takers would have to deal with the Chinese citizens’ rising sense of privacy and a reluctance to disclose their personal details to the government.

Last month, Feng had said that pre-census surveys had revealed “more refusals to cooperate with the census,” to overcome which, this year’s census asks no questions about income, the report said.

For the first time, migrants will be counted where they live, not where their residence certificate is registered for social services, which would help the authorities to figure out a more accurate picture about their native place and how far they have swelled the cities’ populations without being officially noticed, it added.

China’s population was 1.27 billion at the last census in 2000.

It is expected to top 1.3 billion this time, the report added. (ANI)