Census Duty: State Powers & Citizens’ Rights

CENSUS DUTY: BALANCING STATE POWERS AND CITIZENS’ RIGHTS

WHY IN THE NEWS ?

• Rule Amendment: The Centre amended the Census Rules, 1990, explicitly including teachers from private unaided schools and employees of private establishments among those who may be appointed as Census enumerators.
• Legal Debate: The amendment has renewed questions about the government’s power to compel private individuals to perform public duties and the constitutional protection against forced labour.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND GOVERNMENT’S POWERS:

• Census Act, 1948: Section 4(2) empowers State Governments to appoint persons as Census officers, who become legally bound to serve once appointed.
• Amended Rules: The revised rules explicitly identify teachers from government, aided and unaided private educational institutions, alongside employees of banks, companies, societies and trusts.
• Existing Provisions: Section 4A requires local authorities to provide necessary staff, while Sections 6 and 7 address assistance from private establishments in specified circumstances.
• Judicial Interpretation: Courts have questioned whether provisions concerning assistance within an establishment permit authorities to requisition private employees for general door-to-door enumeration.
• Administrative Necessity: The government argues that clarification is necessary because Census operations require a large workforce, with approximately 31 lakh enumerators and supervisors reportedly being trained.

CITIZENS’ RIGHTS AND JUDICIAL CONCERNS

• Constitutional Protection: Article 23(1) prohibits begar and other forms of forced labour, while Article 23(2) permits compulsory service for public purposes, subject to the constitutional prohibition on discrimination.
• Court Intervention: During the 2011 Census, the Punjab and Haryana High Court restricted coercive deployment of private-school teachers, while permitting deployment under appropriate conditions.
• Statutory Limits: Courts have emphasised that delegated legislation and administrative orders cannot exceed the authority granted by the parent statute.
• Employee Safeguards: Concerns include disruption of academic activities, additional workloads, working hours and the absence of a detailed statutory framework for compulsory service.
• Central Question: The issue is whether the broad expression “any person” authorises unrestricted compulsory deployment or must be interpreted within the limits of the Census Act.