The Union Cabinet on Friday cleared a proposal to conduct the much-delayed Census at a cost of Rs 11,718 crore, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

The Cabinet also approved two significant Bills — one to establish a higher education regulator that will replace bodies such as the UGC and AICTE, and another to allow private companies to participate in the nuclear power generation.

Speaking at a briefing on Census, Vaishnaw said around 30 lakh enumerators would be involved in the entire exercise. The 16th edition of the Census since Independence would provide an option of self-enumeration to the citizens. The exercise which was scheduled to take place in 2021 got postponed due to the outbreak of the Covid pandemic across the country, he said.

The minister said the

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