Kathmandu, Mar. 24
Contrary to the
expectations of the many, the National Statistics Office (NSO) has not included
the details of the ethnicities, caste, language and religion in its first final
results of the National Census 2021 published on Friday.
While some, in social
media, raised questions over the motives of the office and the government
behind this act, Deputy Chief of NSO, Nebin Lal Shrestha, who is also the
spokesperson for the statistical body, said that it would take about four
months to publish the final data on cultural aspects - ethnicities, caste,
language and religion.
According to him, various
communities and ethnicities had approached the NSO demanding to include or
exclude them or the others from certain castes, ethnicities and language groups
which has made the issue 'sensitive' and 'complex'.
The NSO high officials
said that the increased awareness created by the republic governance and 'realisation'
of ethnic identities were the causes behind the disputes being made on the
cultural and ethnic statistics. There have been some cases where a certain
caste of one ethnicity wanted to mention itself as a separate ethnic community.
"This is the issue beyond our jurisdiction," said Shrestha.
To address the demands of
the concerned communities and groups of people, the government has formed a
high-level panel under the chairmanship of the secretary of the NPC which
included the representatives from the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil
Aviation, Language Commission, National Inclusion Commission, Indigenous
Nationalities Commission and other concerned bodies.
The commission is
studying the issues being raised by the ethnic and language communities and the
results would be published only after it gives a nod to the NSO.
The NSO said that
ethnicity/caste is the major issue of contention following by the language.
Religion is not the concern of that importance but since it should be bundled
with the ethnicities and other cultural aspects, we plan to publish the entire
data together, said Shrestha.
According to the census
in 2011, there were 126 caste/ethnic groups inicluding Chhetri (16.6 per cent),
Brahmin-hill (12.2 per cent), Magar (7.1 per cent), Tharu (6.6 per cent),
Tamang (5.8 per cent), Newar (5 per cent), Kami (4.8 per cent), Muslim (4.4 per
cent), Yadav (4 per cent) and Rai (2.3 per cent) being the major ones.
Similarly, there were 123
languages – Nepali (spoken by 44.6 per cent), Maithili (11.7 per cent),
Bhojpuri (5.98 per cent), Tharu (5.77 per cent), Tamang (5.11 per cent), Newar
(3.2 per cent), Bajjika (2.99 per cent), Magar (2.98 per cent), Doteli (2.97
per cent and Urdu (2.61 per cent).
Likewise, in terms of
religion, Hinduism was followed by 81.3 per cent in 2011, Buddhism by 9 per
cent, Islam by 4.4 per cent, Kirat 3.1 per cent and Christianity by 1.4 per
cent. Other small religious groups included Prakriti, Bon, Jainism, Bahai and
Sikhism.
No census in Kalapani
Meanwhile, the NSO said
that no census could be conducted in Kalapani region including Limpiyadhura and
Lipulek – Nepali territory encroached by India which came to an international
limelight after Nepal published a country map including the encroached land in
2020.
India obstructed the
movement of Nepali officials and enumerators in Kalapani region. Deputy Chief
of NSO, Nebin Lal Shrestha, said that the surveyors had taken a great risk even
to reach the settlement in Nepal's mainland as India did not allow them to reach
their by using its land.
"We tried to use
satellite image to make the estimates of the families and population in
Kalanapi region, but that was not as easy as we thought earlier," he said.
However, according to the
rough estimates as reported to the NSO, about 500 people live in the territory
encroached by India.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 25 March 2023.
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