Introduction
Census opeation is a very important event in the history of a nation. These operations cover every bit of land and property of the country. Census Data also known as Demographic Data provides value information to various users particularly planners to know the trends in the key areas. Population is one such key area which is monitored by every Governemtn based on Census operations at regular intervals. There are also nations who dare not conduct Census due to various reasons. They could be political, cultural or religious. In India, Registrar General of census conducts Census Operations every 10 years. The Census operations in India are being conducted regularly. The next Census are due in 2001. The last Census were conducted in 1991 and it has been computerised and run into 17 floppies.
Characteristics of data
The activity of collecting dat aby mankind is going on as part of society need from time immemorial. Every data has its own importance. In general, the data is raw and has to be processed before it is fit to be used as information of basic facts. Information is power and it is based on data. Ground visit is a must for collection of data. It is generally the responsibility of the Government as part of social responsibility. There have been trends that theme specific data are being collected by private agencies as a commercial venture. There are therefore large volumes of data being being collected on various subjects by different agencies depending their area of interest and scope of work. But how far this data is being processed and used is a study by itself. Dat being time specific is always a critical factor. It becomes redundant particularly, if it is not available when required. Even if data has been collected well in time, its processing and dissemination in user friendly format is another major task in data business.