Lapses in duty by Census officials can invite three years in prison

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) has written to States that if a Census official refuses to perform their duty, damages or destroys any Census document, they shall face up to three years of imprisonment.

In a letter to Chief Secretaries on March 17, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan said that for smooth conduct of Census operations, it is necessary that Census officers engaged in the conduct of houselisting, housing census, and population enumeration are informed of their specific duties under the Census Act. “Along with the duties, penalties have also been prescribed under Section 11 of the Census Act, 1948,” the letter said.

It added that Census enumeration is carried out under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and Census Rules, 1990.

For the purpose, Principal Census Officers, District or Additional District or Sub-Divisional Census Officers, Charge Officers, Supervisors and Enumerators are drawn from the State government. Around 30 lakh enumerators, mostly government school teachers, are roped in to carry out door-to-door enumeration.

The letter said that the enumerators must “conduct proper probing while maintaining a polite behavior” during field visits.

It informed that preparations for the ensuing Census 2027 are at an advanced stage and the first phase, i.e. houselisting and housing census, will be conducted during April-September 2026 for a period of 30 days as notified by each State and Union Territory. It will have an option for self-enumeration to be conducted in a 15-day period just before the start of the first phase. “The period and questionnaire of the second phase i.e. Population Enumeration will be notified in due course of time,” the letter stated. This will be the first digital Census, first to enumerate caste in independent India, and first to give an option to self-enumerate. Caste is expected to be recorded in the second phase.

For self-enumeration, the officials have been asked to collect “SE IDs (self-enumeration identity numbers)” of households and review the data and confirm from respondent before accepting or editing the data in the mobile application for the Census.

The letter stated penalties under Section 11 of the Census Act, 1948, making compliance with Census duties legally enforceable. It stated that any Census officer or person lawfully required to assist who refuses to perform assigned duties, neglects to exercise reasonable diligence, obstructs Census work, asks offensive or improper questions, makes false returns, unlawfully discloses Census information, or tampers with Census documents is liable to punishment. Such offences can attract a fine of up to ₹1,000 and, in cases involving refusal to perform duty, false returns, or document tampering, imprisonment of up to three years.