Congress Slams Centre's Decision to Involve Private Individuals as Census Enumerators

What Happened

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has alleged that the Union government's decision to allow private schoolteachers and members of trusts and societies to act as Census enumerators is an employment scheme for RSS and BJP workers. The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India broadened this category on Friday, moving away from the traditional practice of using only government teachers, revenue officials, and State government employees.

Official Stance and Reasons

A former Census official noted that while the 1990 rules allowed 'any person' to be appointed, there is no precedent for using private individuals. Former Deputy Registrar General K. Narayanan Unni stated that a shortage of government schoolteachers, whose numbers have not grown in proportion to the population, triggered the move. The upcoming Population Enumeration phase in February 2027 also clashes with school board exams and Assembly elections in States like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Goa, where teachers will also handle election duties and voter roll revisions.

Legal Challenges and Criticisms

Private teachers in States like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Haryana previously moved courts regarding enumeration duties. On October 16, the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed two Haryana government communications, giving interim relief to private unaided schools against deploying their staff. Mr. Ramesh also linked the notification to a July RSS training camp in Belgaum and a recent call for inputs by the High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes, claiming the exercise will be doctored.

Census Details

Around 34 lakh enumerators are needed for the Population Enumeration phase, which features 40 questions. This includes inquiries about parents' birth dates, spouse's name, digital literacy, passport, bank accounts, and COVID-19 vaccination. Census 2027 will be India's first digital Census and will enumerate castes other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for the first time since Independence.

Context

The decennial Census is a massive administrative exercise requiring millions of trained field workers to collect demographic and social data across the entire country. Managing personnel shortages during overlapping electoral and academic schedules has historically posed major logistical challenges for the government.