Census Rules, 1990 amended to spell out who can be enumerators
The Ministry of Home Affairs on 16 October 2026 notified the Census (Amendment) Rules, 2026 under section 18(1) of the Census Act, 1948. Teachers of aided and unaided private institutions, and clerks and officials of public sector undertakings, banks and companies, are now listed as eligible enumerators. States and Union territories may also appoint any other suitable person.
Syllabus: Prelims · Polity & Governance; GS2 · Government Policies; GS2 · Governance & e-Governance
Why this matters for UPSC
GS2 polity and governance: Prelims can ask about the Census Act, 1948, the Union List entry for Census and who appoints census officers; Mains, about delegated legislation, teachers' non-educational duties and Census 2027.
Why it matters
A teacher in a private unaided school, or a clerk in a bank or a company, is now expressly named among those who can receive an order to go door to door as a census enumerator, and refusing a lawful census duty is an offence under the Census Act, 1948. For schools, that can mean classes taken by someone else for some weeks. For the Census, a clearly named pool should make it easier to staff every enumeration block on time. The larger question is how far the State can draft private employees for a public duty, and how it should balance that against teaching time and the privacy of the households being counted.
Prelims pointers
- Seventh Schedule: Census is entry 69 of the Union List (List I); its legal framework is the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990.
- Section 18(3), Census Act, 1948: every rule is laid before each House of Parliament for 30 days; both Houses may modify or annul it.
- Section 4A, Census Act, 1948: a local authority must lend staff to a Director of Census Operations on the Central Government's written order.
- Section 8, Census Act, 1948: every person asked a census question is legally bound to answer it to the best of knowledge or belief.
- Section 11, Census Act, 1948: a census officer who refuses a census duty faces a fine up to Rs 1,000 and jail up to three years.
- Section 15A, Census Act, 1948: time spent on census duty counts as duty for the lending employer and cannot hurt promotion.
- Section 27, Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009: teachers may do non-educational work only for the decennial population census, disaster relief and elections.
- Census (Amendment) Rules, 2022 allowed census schedules in electronic form and self-enumeration by households.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the legal framework of the Census in India, consider the following statements:
1. Census is an entry in the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule.
2. The Census Rules, 1990 were made by the Central Government under section 18 of the Census Act, 1948.
3. Rules made under the Census Act, 1948 come into force after both Houses of Parliament approve them.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 only
Answer: (b) 2 only. Census is a Union subject, and its rules are made by the Centre and only laid before Parliament.
Statement 1: incorrect. Census is entry 69 of the Union List (List I), not the Concurrent List.
Statement 2: correct. The Census Rules, 1990 were notified by the Central Government using section 18(1) of the Census Act, 1948.
Statement 3: incorrect. Section 18(3) only requires each rule to be laid before both Houses for 30 days; they may modify or annul it, but no approval is needed first.
Eliminate: Statement 2 is the surest, since the Rules themselves say they are made under section 18. Out: (a), (c).
Eliminate: Statement 1 is wrong because Census is a Union List entry. Out: (d).
Trap: Wrong scope. Statement 1 moves a Union List subject to the Concurrent List, and statement 3 turns laying before Parliament into prior approval.
Remember: Census: Union List entry 69; Census Act, 1948; Census Rules, 1990 under section 18.
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