Issues in Applying Data from Independent Sources for Policy Analysis Lessons from the 2011 Census and Election in Tamil Nadu, India

The Elections and Censuses are significant events that reaffirm and reflect the democratic polity in India. While the Elections to the National Parliament and state assemblies are conducted by a constitutional body the Election Commission of India, the decennial Censuses are coordinated by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. The two events differ widely in their influence, political/official/media interest and people’s participation/ expectation. While the Census throws up a lot of data even at village levels, little is available at constituency level that can be compared with electoral data. Academics have felt the need for comparable data from the two exercises. The two have been conducted almost without any link. Reliable demographic and socio-economic information organized on the basis of constituencies is presently not available. Tamilnadu(TN) state offers a possibility to take up a study that could fruitfully use data from Census 2011 and the 2011 TN Assembly Elections. This is because of the following reasons. Unlike most other states, census data collection in TN is organized in a manner that provides for the compilation of data on the basis of electoral constituencies, both events occurred at about the same time; and new data processing technology facilitates timely availability of comparable data. Utilising this window of opportunity, this paper seeks to use the 2011 Census and Elections data from Tamilnadu to understand people’s participation in the electoral process measured in terms of percentage of the eligible population who get registered as voters and the proportion of the population who turn up to vote. It is explored whether such participation varies in terms of gender, literacy and rural – urban classification. It is noted that there are also process related issues pertaining to Census and Elections that impact such people’s participation. Steps to improve the processes in order to facilitate greater participation are also suggested.