West Bengal Withdraws Order Requiring Teachers’ Census Work After Hours

West Bengal had asked teachers to help with census work after school and on weekends.

The state government later withdrew that order.

The government said teachers needed to stay focused on classroom teaching.

It referred to duties under the Right to Education framework.

The Census authority told a court that it needed officials from the state for about one month.

The authority said it did not need every worker to come from schools.

This meant there could be other people available for the census work.

The disagreement was about how to balance teaching duties with census staffing.

The order was ultimately withdrawn.