Overview
- The Registrar General of India issued a gazette notification on Friday, October 16, 2026, amending the Census Rules, 1990 to permit teachers from government, local authority, aided and unaided private institutions to serve as census enumerators.
- The amendment explicitly lists teachers, clerks, officials of central and state governments and any person state or Union territory administrations consider suitable as eligible census officers.
- The change is intended to broaden the workforce available for Census 2027, which has a sanctioned budget of Rs 11,718 crore and staged field work that includes December enumeration for a few states and wider operations likely starting in February 2027.
- The move is subject to an active legal challenge by the Haryana Progressive Schools Conference, which says Section 4A of the Census Act, 1948 does not allow requisitioning staff of private unaided schools; the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed two Haryana communications and listed the matter for hearing on April 29, 2027.
- If the court limits use of private unaided school teachers, states may have to recruit or redeploy larger numbers of temporary enumerators, a step that could change training needs, timelines and costs ahead of the main population count.