Governance Samyak IAS 28 Oct, 2026 3 min read

Census Duty: Government Powers and Private Citizens’ Rights

The Centre has amended the Census Rules, 1990 to expressly allow teachers of government, local-authority, aided and unaided private educational institutions to be appointed as Census enumerators.

What Has Changed?

The amended rules specifically mention teachers of private unaided schools, along with employees of several private establishments.
However, the Rules continue to retain the broad category of “any person” whom the State government or Union Territory administration considers suitable for Census duty.
The amendment is intended to remove ambiguity and ensure availability of the large workforce required for Census operations.

Legal Basis: Census Act, 1948

Provision	Key Provision / Power
Section 4(2)	State government may appoint persons as Census officers to aid or supervise Census operations in a specified area. Once appointed, they are bound to serve accordingly.
Section 4A	A local authority, when directed by the Central Government, must make available such staff as may be necessary for Census work.
Section 6	Enables Census authorities to seek assistance from owners/occupiers and persons connected with certain establishments for Census purposes, within the scope of the Act.
Section 7	District Magistrate may require staff of a factory or establishment to assist in counting persons present within that establishment. It does not expressly authorise their deployment for general door-to-door enumeration.

Why Did Courts Question Compulsory Deployment?

Courts have distinguished between:
- appointing a person under the specific authority of Section 4(2), and
- using Sections 6 or 7 to compulsorily requisition private employees for duties beyond their statutory scope.
Courts have also questioned whether subordinate rules can expand powers beyond what the parent Census Act permits.

Important Judicial Cases

Punjab & Haryana High Court – LIC Employees (2010)

Quashed the order directing LIC’s Jalandhar office to provide 150 employees for Census duty.
Held that Section 7 mainly allows counting assistance within the establishment.
Clarified that the State may use Section 4(2) separately, where legally applicable.

Also ruled against compulsory requisition of LIC employees for Census duty.
The ruling was upheld by a Division Bench in 2019 and later challenged before the Supreme Court.

Recent Court Concerns

The Bombay High Court recently granted interim protection to associations representing more than 500 private unaided and minority schools in Maharashtra.
It questioned whether the earlier Rules could be interpreted so broadly that virtually any private professional or employee could be compulsorily requisitioned.
The Punjab & Haryana High Court also stayed Haryana government communications seeking details of private unaided-school teachers for Census work.

Yes, constitutionally compulsory public service is possible, but it must have proper legal authority.

Article 23

Article 23(1): Prohibits begar and other forms of forced labour.
Article 23(2): Allows the State to impose compulsory service for public purposes, provided there is no discrimination on prohibited grounds.

Article 23(2) permits compulsory public service, but it does not itself give Census authorities unlimited power to requisition citizens.
Such power must arise from a valid statutory framework.
Therefore, the real legal question is whether the Census Act, 1948 and Census Rules validly authorise the particular form of compulsory deployment.

Core Legal Issue

The dispute is therefore not whether compulsory public service is constitutionally impossible.
It is whether the government has clear statutory authority to compel a particular private citizen or employee to perform Census duties, and whether such deployment remains within the limits of the Census Act.

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