Overview
- The Ministry of Home Affairs published the Census (Amendment) Rules, 2026 in the official Gazette on Friday, October 16, 2026, explicitly widening who state and Union Territory administrations may appoint as enumerators.
- The revised Rule 3 lists three categories of eligible appointees: teachers of government, local-authority, aided or unaided private institutions; clerks and officials of central, state, local bodies and establishments; and any person a state or UT considers suitable.
- Several high courts have already granted interim relief to private-school staff who objected to requisition orders and the Punjab and Haryana High Court has listed the main petition for further hearing on April 29, 2027.
- Opposition leaders and activists say the change could allow partisan cadres to be appointed and erode public trust in the census, while the government frames the move as a practical fix for scale and timing pressures.
- Census 2027 is being run in two phases as the first major mobile-based national count that adds new data fields including caste, it carries an Rs 11,718 crore budget and raises questions about data handling, oversight and the daily realities of enumerators collecting household information.