Numbers as Political Allies
The Census in Jammu and Kashmir

Analysis of census statistics of Jammu and Kashmir that shows how data quality is impacted by different factors.

Vikas Kumar (Author)

9781009317214, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 January 2024

562 pages
23.7 x 16.4 x 3.6 cm, 0.85 kg

Numbers as Political Allies analyses the state sponsored headcounts in Jammu and Kashmir as public goods, collective self-portraits, and symbols of modernity. It explores how census statistics are impacted by their administrative, legal and political-economic contexts. The book guides the reader through the entire lifecycle of headcounts from the administrative manoeuvring at the preparatory stage to the partisan use of data in policymaking and public debates. Using the case of Jammu and Kashmir, it explains how our ability to examine data quality is limited by the paucity of metadata and estimates the magnitudes of coverage and content errors in the census process. It argues that Jammu and Kashmir's data deficit is shaped by and shapes ethno-regional, communal, and scalar contests across different levels of governance and compares its census experience with other states to discuss possible reforms to enhance public trust in the census.

List of Figures
List of Maps
List of Tables
List of Timelines
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Part I. Introduction: 1. Debating Numbers
Part II. Counting People: 2. Counting amidst Uncertainty
3. Inventing Boys and Miscounting Tribes and Languages
Part III. Context: 4. Anxious Majorities
5. The Limits of Law
6. Growth as Well-Being
Part IV. Reforms: 7. Reinventing the Census
Appendix
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Population & demography [JHBD], Social research & statistics [JHBC], Development studies [GTF]