The CPM on Thursday demanded that the population census, scheduled to begin on April 1, be deferred keeping in mind the physical distancing required to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

It urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce the rescheduling of the census in his address to the nation on Thursday evening. No such rescheduling was announced.

As for the National Population Register update, scheduled simultaneously with the census, the CPM believes it should be abandoned given the opposition to it from the people as well as the governments of 13 states and two Union Territories.

“Given the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and the need for taking precautions such as social distancing, etc .… the government and all its agencies must single-mindedly lay focus on controlling the pandemic and meet the consequent challenges threatening people’s health and livelihood,” a party statement said.

Kerala’s CPM-led government has already said the NPR would not be conducted owing to the public misgivings about its intent, but the census is on schedule. Now there’s a fear that the enumerators, moving house-to-house, could become infected and act as carriers.