The correct answer is: b) Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner.
The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner (ORGC) is the nodal agency responsible for conducting the Census in India. It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. The ORGC is headed by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, who is an ex-officio member of the National Statistical Commission.
The ORGC is responsible for planning, organizing, and conducting the Census in India. It also prepares the final reports of the Census and disseminates the data to the public. The ORGC has a network of field offices across the country, which are responsible for collecting the data from the households.
The Census is a decennial exercise in India. The first Census was conducted in 1872. The latest Census was conducted in 2011. The Census provides a comprehensive picture of the population of India. It is used for planning and development purposes by the government and other agencies.
The other options are incorrect because:
- Option (a) is incorrect because the State Governments are not responsible for conducting the Census in India. The ORGC is the nodal agency responsible for conducting the Census.
- Option (c) is incorrect because the National Statistical Commission is a statutory body under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India. The National Statistical Commission is responsible for advising the government on statistical matters. It is not responsible for conducting the Census.
- Option (d) is incorrect because NITI Aayog is a policy think tank of the Government of India. It is not responsible for conducting the Census.