The Congress claims that the Center’s “RSS employment scheme” is opening census jobs to private individuals

A day after the Union government approved the appointment of private teachers and members of “institutions, societies and trusts” as census takers, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday (Oct 17, 2026) alleged that the move appeared to be an employment scheme for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiyata Party (.B) members.

A former census official said that while there was a provision in the 1990 census rules to appoint “any person” as a census taker, there was no precedent for involving private individuals in the exercise and a similar proposal for the 1991 census was not accepted due to liability concerns, the official said.

The Population Census (PE) phase, which will be conducted across the country in February 2027, also coincides with the annual school and board examinations. In Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa, where the polls will be conducted, door-to-door counting will begin on December 1 and end on January 4, 2027, followed by assembly elections where government teachers will be made to vote.

Most of the government school teachers were also employed last year as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls.

Former Deputy Secretary General of India K. Narayanan Unni told The Hindu that the number of government teachers has not increased in proportion to the population, which could mean a shortage of staff for the census.

“The move seems to have been prompted by the fact that there are not enough government teachers or even government-aided school teachers available for the exercise. Government schools have not grown in proportion to the population, hence the need to bring in private teachers,” Mr. Unni said.

“No precedent for private individuals”

Although there was a category of ‘any person’ in the 1990 Census Rules, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) on Friday expanded the category of people who could be engaged as Census Commissioners. Until now, mostly government teachers, tax officials and other civil servants were employed to carry out the enumeration, and there was no precedent for the involvement of private individuals in a previous enumeration.

During the first phase of Census 2027 – 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, approached the courts and secured interim relief.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday (October 16, 2026) stayed two Haryana government notices seeking details of teachers for the 2027 census and granted interim relief to unaided private schools against deputing their staff for exercise.

In a post on X, Mr. Ramesh said, “During July 10-12, 2026, RSS organized a major training camp for its cadres in Belgaum under the one-point agenda of Census 2027. The High Level Committee on Demographic Changes, set up by the Union Home Ministry on May 26, 2026, only asked the public in foreign organization, including changes in Indian country, for information about Indian country and demography. the high level of this committee is the association of its members with the RSS ecosystem, so we know where these inputs are coming from.

“The 16th October 2026 Census announcement has to be seen in the light of the RSS boot camp from 10th to 12th July 2026 and the Demographic Change Committee’s call for entries on 14th October 2026. It is clear that this is a Rozgar Yojana guarantee for thousands of RSS/BJP workers destroyed. This will surely be another contaminated Census institution. (Special Intensive Review), the Census will also dangerously adulterated, there is no limit to the diabolical designs of the PM-HM duo,” he added.

Around 34,000 enumerators are needed for the PE phase, which will include 40 questions, some of which will be asked for the first time – name of spouse, nationality, details of parents, including their dates and place of birth, digital literacy, address of permanent residence and place of vaccination against COVID-19. Respondents will also be asked about the number of bank accounts they own and whether they have a passport, driving license 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.

Published – 17 Oct 2026 22:56 IST