NEW DELHI: Census 2021 will be a digital exercise and a shift from the ‘pen-paper’ method used previously by enumerators, opening the possibility of enhancing delivery and reach of welfare schemes and services to the right beneficiaries, home minister Amit Shah said on Monday.In his address at the foundation stone laying ceremony for the new headquarters of the Office of Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner, Shah spoke about the potential of a properly-conducted ‘digital’ census eliminating the need to maintain multiple documents even as he made it clear that the government was not currently considering such a proposal.“A digital census can have multiple utilities. So far, the government has not made such plans. But can the register of births and deaths not be connected with the electoral list? If a child is born, and not recorded as dead in the following years, can he not be enrolled as a voter at age 18? Does he have to apply? I think not,” Shah said.He said potentially, a lot of duplication could be avoided. “Aadhaar card, voter card, ID card... all these things, all cards can come in one. Government has not made any such plans, I am placing the potential before you as it is your task to make digital census a success,” he told census officials.Emphasising that the census must not be taken as a one-time, routine exercise, Shah said it would lead the nation to better development over the next 25 years. He gave the example of 22 welfare schemes mapped on the basis of Census 2011 figures, including those relating to provision of clean drinking water, LPG coverage , road connectivity, electricity, health and education.Such accomplishments can only take place when the process of census is fool-proof and accurate, Shah told the gathering, mostly comprising census officials and staff. He said the process of a ‘pen-paper census’ would be transformed to a 'digital census’ in the 2021 exercise. Enumeration data would be captured using a mobile app in the enumerator’s phone and the form itself would be in 16 languages.Shah said the National Population Register would be updated alongside the Census 2021 exercise — with the total budget for both adding up to Rs 12,000 crore.The minister said an efficient and scientific digital census process held great future potential and if efficiently done, it could lead to provision of public services through one platform.