Saturday, January 4, 2020

3 yrs in jail if state govts’ staff decline Census work
Refusing NPR Duty To Invite Up To ₹1K Fine


Bharti.Jain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:05.01.2020

State government and local bodies’ staff tasked with aiding the Census Commissioner and Registrar General of Citizen Registration, in conduct of Census and NPR exercise respectively are bound by the Census of India Act and Citizenship Rules to serve accordingly, government sources said on Friday.

An officer underlined that it is mandatory for government staff drafted under the Census of India Act and Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, which provides for preparation of a National Population Register (NPR), to carry out their assigned duties of collecting the database for census and NPR exercises. This is applicable both to enumerators tasked with houselisting phase, who will simultaneously capture NPR data, as well as census officers.

As per Census of India rules, the state governments and UT administrations, for carrying out census within their jurisdiction, must appoint officers that include principal census officer (district magistrates/collectors), district and sub-district census officer, charge officer, supervisor and enumerator.

Section 11of theCensusof India Act lays down penalties — imprisonment up to three years and/or fine — for government or any other staff declining to aid in conduct of census. Similarly any refusal to perform NPR duty may invite up to Rs 1,000 fine under Rule 17 of Citizenship Rules, 2003. The errant staff may also face disciplinary action, said an officer.

Given that NPR is to be carried out alongside houselisting phase of Census 2021 from April to September this year, the teachers and other staff drafted as enumerators have to make themselves available for collecting data for both the exercises. This will be the case in West Bengal as well, even though the state administration claims to have put the NPR process there on hold.

Section 4(2) of the Census of India Act, 1948 states that “the state government may appoint persons as census officers to take, aid in, or supervise the taking of the census within any specified local area and such persons, when so appointed, shall be bound to serve accordingly”.

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