A day after the Union government authorised the appointment of private schoolteachers and members of “institutions, societies and trusts” as Census enumerators, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday (October 17, 2026) alleged that the move appeared to be an employment scheme for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members.
A former Census official said that though the provision of “any person” being appointed as Census enumerators existed in the Census Rules, 1990, there was no precedent of private persons being engaged for the exercise, and a similar suggestion for the 1991 Census had not been accepted because of concerns over accountability, the official said.
The Population Enumeration (PE) phase, which will be conducted across the country in February 2027, also coincides with annual school examinations and board examinations. In poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa, the door-to-door enumeration will start on December 1 and end on January 4, 2027, followed by Assembly elections, where the government teachers will be put on election duty.
Most government school teachers have also been engaged as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls over the past year.
Former Deputy Registrar General of India K. Narayanan Unni told The Hindu that the number of government schoolteachers had not increased in proportion to the population, which could mean a shortage of personnel for the Census.
“The move seems to have been triggered by the fact that not enough government schoolteachers, or even those from government-aided schools, are available for the exercise. Government schools have not grown in proportion to the population, and that is why the need to engage private teachers,” Mr. Unni said.
“No precedent of private people”
Though the category of “any person” existed in the Census Rules, 1990, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) on Friday broadened the category of people who could be engaged as enumerators. Until now, mostly government schoolteachers, revenue officials and other State government employees had been engaged to carry out the enumeration work, and there was no precedent of private people being engaged in the previous Census.
During the first phase of Census 2027—the Houselisting Operations (HLO)—several private teachers in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana, who were asked by the State government to carry out the enumeration duty, moved courts and secured interim relief.
On Friday (October 16, 2026), the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed two Haryana government communications seeking details of teachers for Census 2027, granting interim relief to private unaided schools against the deployment of their staff for the exercise.
Mr. Ramesh said in a post on X, “During July 10-12, 2026, the RSS held a big training camp in Belgaum for its cadres on the single-point agenda of Census 2027. The High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes set up by the Union Home Ministry on May 26, 2026, has just asked for inputs from the public, including Indian and foreign organisations, on demographic changes in the country. The only thing high level of this committee is the affiliation of its members to the RSS ecosystem. So we know where these inputs will come from.”
“The Census Notification of October 16, 2026 has to be seen in light of the RSS training camp of July 10-12, 2026 and the Demographic Change Committee’s call for inputs on October 14, 2026. It is clear this is a Rozgar Guarantee Yojana for thousands of RSS/BJP workers. This will most certainly further contaminate an already subverted Census. Another institution is being destroyed. Like SIR (Special Intensive Revision), the Census will also be dangerously doctored. There are no limits to the diabolical designs of the PM-HM duo,” he added.
Around 34 lakh enumerators are required for the PE phase, which will include 40 questions, several of which will be asked for the first time—spouse’s name, nationality, parents’ particulars, including their dates of birth and places of birth, digital literacy, permanent residential address and place of COVID-19 vaccination. Respondents will also be asked about the number of bank accounts they hold and whether they have a passport, driving licence and mobile phone, Aadhaar and voter ID.
Census 2027 will be India’s first digital Census and the first since Independence to enumerate castes other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.