Census 2027: Govt. opens enumerator roles to private teachers, institutions, trust and society members

In a first, the Union government has expanded the definition of “any person” who could be appointed as Census enumerators authorising the appointment of private school teachers and members of “institutions, societies and trusts”.

Though the category of “any person” existed in Census Rules, 1990, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) notification in the official gazette on Friday (October 16, 2026) broadened the category of persons who could be engaged as enumerators. Till now, mostly government school teachers, revenue and other State government officials were being engaged to carry out the enumeration work.

Legal pushback

In the first phase of the latest Census with the House Listing Operations (HLO), several private teachers in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana, who were asked by the State government to carry out the enumeration duty, moved court over the decision.

On Friday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed two Haryana government communications seeking details of teachers for the Census, granting interim relief to private unaided schools from deploying their staff for the exercise.

Earlier in May, the Bombay High Court had granted interim protection to associations representing over 500 private unaided and minority schools in Maharashtra, staying all notices, appointment orders, and coercive steps such as First Information Reports (FIRs) issued against their teaching and non-teaching staff for failing to report for Census duties.