UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Manipur awaits Centre’s decision on Census 2027

Question 1

The preparation and maintenance of the National Register of Indian Citizens contemplated by Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 is entrusted to which one of the following functionaries?

Accepted Answer

The Registrar General of Citizen Registration, appointed by the Central Government under the Citizenship Act, 1955

Answer

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, functioning under the Census Act, 1948

Answer

The Registrar General of Births and Deaths, functioning under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969

Answer

The Director of the Bureau of Immigration, functioning under the Foreigners Act, 1946

Question 2

Consider the following pairs of an exercise with the legal instrument under which it is carried out:
1. Decennial census of population — the Census Act, 1948, a law traceable to Entry 69 of the Union List under Article 246
2. National Register of Indian Citizens — Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, inserted by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003
3. Updating of the National Register of Citizens in Assam — Rule 4A and the corresponding Schedule of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003
4. Preparation of the National Population Register — the Census Act, 1948, read with the Census Rules, 1990
Which of the above is/are NOT correctly matched?

Accepted Answer

4 only

Answer

1 and 2

Answer

2 only

Answer

3 and 4

Question 3

In Census 2027, the reference date applicable to the greater part of India is preceded by an earlier reference date fixed for one group of areas. That earlier date applies to which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand

Answer

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep, together with the outlying inhabited islands

Answer

The high-altitude districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim and the upper Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu

Answer

The hill districts of Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram lying along the international boundary

Question 4

Consider the following statements regarding the design of Census 2027:
1. Its first phase is the Houselisting and Housing Census, taken up State/UT-wise within the window of April to September 2026, each State or UT using a thirty-day period of its choice.
2. Its second phase, Population Enumeration, is scheduled for February 2027.
3. An optional self-enumeration facility is offered on a web portal in sixteen languages during a fifteen-day period preceding the house-to-house operation.
4. Field data are recorded on printed schedules and digitised afterwards at the district headquarters, while the Census Management and Monitoring System portal is used only to publish the final tables.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

Accepted Answer

4 only

Answer

2 only

Answer

3 and 4

Answer

1 and 3

Question 5

Consider the following statements about the position of Census 2027 operations in Manipur:
1. Manipur's thirty-day window for the Houselisting and Housing Census fell in September 2026.
2. The self-enumeration facility for the State, due to open in the second half of August 2026, did not become operational.
3. District administrations including Imphal West, Thoubal, Kakching and Jiribam deferred or cancelled the training of enumerators and supervisors.
4. The protesting organisations want the Census figures to be published first, so that the National Register of Citizens can then be compiled on the basis of those figures.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

Accepted Answer

1, 2 and 3

Answer

1 and 2 only

Answer

2, 3 and 4

Answer

1 and 4

Question 6

The decision on rescheduling Manipur's stalled first phase of Census 2027 rests with which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, an attached office of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs

Answer

The National Statistical Office, under the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

Answer

The Directorate of Census Operations, Manipur, under the State Department of Economics and Statistics

Answer

The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, acting through the North Eastern Council

Question 7

Consider the following statements about the High Court of Manipur, before which the challenge relating to the Census exercise in the State is pending:
1. Its writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution can be invoked only against the State Government and its instrumentalities, and not against authorities of the Union Government.
2. It came into existence on 23 March 2013, on bifurcation from the Gauhati High Court, following the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012.
3. Public interest litigations relating to the Census and delimitation exercises in the State, including one filed by a students' association, have been entertained by it.
4. Since the Census falls within the Union List, a writ petition questioning the conduct of the Census is not maintainable before a High Court, and lies exclusively before the Supreme Court under Article 32.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

Accepted Answer

2 and 3 only

Answer

1 and 2 only

Answer

1, 3 and 4

Answer

3 only

Question 8

Consider the following statements comparing the judicial handling of the citizenship-register question in Assam with the ongoing Census litigation in Manipur:
1. The updating of the register of citizens in Assam proceeded under the monitoring of the Supreme Court, whereas the present challenge to the Census exercise in Manipur is being heard by the High Court of Manipur.
2. Unlike the Gauhati High Court, the High Court of Manipur exercises jurisdiction over more than one State of the North-East.
3. The field machinery for the Assam register and for the Census alike is drawn from the Office of the Registrar General of India, though the two exercises rest on different statutes.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

1 and 3 only

Answer

1 only

Answer

2 and 3 only

Answer

1, 2 and 3

Question 9

Consider the following statements about census-taking in India:
1. Census operations were first carried out non-synchronously in different parts of the country beginning in 1872.
2. The first synchronous census in India was taken in 1881.
3. The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India functions under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which also releases the census results.
4. Census 2027 will be the first enumeration of the country's population since 2011, the round due in 2021 having been postponed.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

Accepted Answer

1, 2 and 4

Answer

1 and 3

Answer

2, 3 and 4

Answer

1 and 2 only

Question 10

The Central Government's intention to take the Census of 2027 was notified in the Gazette of India in June 2025 in exercise of powers conferred by which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948

Answer

Section 8 of the Census Act, 1948

Answer

Rule 4 of the Census Rules, 1990

Answer

Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955

Question 11

Consider the following pairs relating to the updating of the National Register of Citizens in Assam:
1. Cut-off for inclusion — midnight of 24 March 1971, the date stipulated by the Assam Accord of 1985
2. Governing provision for the Assam-specific procedure — Rule 4A and the corresponding Schedule of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003
3. Court on whose order the updating was begun in 2013 and under whose continuous monitoring it was carried out — the Gauhati High Court
4. Publication of the final register — 31 August 2019
Which of the above is/are NOT correctly matched?

Accepted Answer

3 only

Answer

1 and 2

Answer

2 and 4

Answer

1, 3 and 4

Question 12

The revocation of President's Rule in Manipur in early 2026 was carried into effect by a notification of which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs, giving effect to a Proclamation of the President under Article 356

Answer

The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, which alone handles every constitutional emergency arising in the North-Eastern States

Answer

The North Eastern Council, whose resolutions on law and order are binding on all its member States without exception

Answer

The Ministry of Law and Justice, which is the only authority competent to notify the withdrawal of a Presidential Proclamation

UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Manipur awaits Centre’s decision on Census 2027

Q1. The preparation and maintenance of the National Register of Indian Citizens contemplated by Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 is entrusted to which one of the following functionaries?

Q3. In Census 2027, the reference date applicable to the greater part of India is preceded by an earlier reference date fixed for one group of areas. That earlier date applies to which one of the following?

Q6. The decision on rescheduling Manipur's stalled first phase of Census 2027 rests with which one of the following?

Q10. The Central Government's intention to take the Census of 2027 was notified in the Gazette of India in June 2025 in exercise of powers conferred by which one of the following?

Q12. The revocation of President's Rule in Manipur in early 2026 was carried into effect by a notification of which one of the following?