Archive · 19 Aug 2026
Bengal Government Withdraws Teacher Census Schedule After HC Questions
A court is examining how teachers can teach and also help with the census.
The census schedule gave them work from 9am to 4pm.
Schools told them to attend classes from 10am to 4pm.
Teachers said these instructions overlap and asked to be officially released from teaching when doing census work.
The state first told teachers to do census work after school or on weekends.
After the court questioned this plan, the state said it had withdrawn that notification.
The census authority said local officials decide the daily work schedules.
The judge has not yet given a final decision about the teachers’ petitions.
The Calcutta High Court questioned conflicting instructions requiring teachers to teach from 10am to 4pm while conducting census work scheduled from 9am to 4pm.
Teachers sought clarity and on-duty status, arguing they could not reasonably perform both classroom and enumeration duties.
The West Bengal government told the court it had withdrawn an August 3 notification requiring census work after school hours and on weekends.
The census authority said local municipal charge officers and district divisional commissioners, rather than the authority itself, set enumerators’ duty rosters.
Justice Krishna Rao also questioned why other public employees were not assigned the work and why teachers in approved DElEd training received census duties.
- Who
- Justice Krishna Rao, schoolteachers, the West Bengal government, the census authority and local administrative officials are involved.
- What
- The Calcutta High Court examined conflicting schedules for teachers assigned to census enumeration and was told that the state had withdrawn its after-hours and weekend work notification.
- When
- The issue was heard on Tuesday and Wednesday; the first 15 days of the census, August 1 to 15, were designated for self-enumeration.
- Where
- The matter was heard in the Calcutta High Court and concerns teachers in government and government-aided schools in Bengal.
- Why
- Teachers sought clarity and on-duty status because census work overlapped with school duties; the court also examined coordination between state and census authorities.
Teachers and Petitioners’ Position
State and Census Administration’s Position
Combining school and census duties
Teachers and Petitioners’ Position
Teachers’ representatives argued that teachers should be assigned either school work or census duty, rather than both at the same time.
State and Census Administration’s Position
The state had instructed teachers to perform census work after school hours or on weekends before withdrawing that notification; its counsel said the workload was five premises a day.
On-duty status
Teachers and Petitioners’ Position
Teachers sought on-duty status so they could be released from classroom responsibilities while conducting enumeration work.
State and Census Administration’s Position
The state education department opposed the benefit, citing an acute shortage of teachers; the state also referred to Section 15A of the Census Act regarding employees’ career, job status and promotion opportunities.
Who should set schedules
Teachers and Petitioners’ Position
The petitioners sought clarity over how census assignments could be completed alongside teaching and, in some cases, approved DElEd training.
State and Census Administration’s Position
The census authority said it does not set individual duty rosters; municipal charge officers and district divisional commissioners determine them according to service conditions.
- Census work schedule
- The census authority fixed enumeration work from 9am to 4pm.
- School schedule
- The education department directed teachers to attend classes from 10am to 4pm.
- Withdrawn notification
- The state said it withdrew an August 3 notification requiring teachers to conduct census work after school hours and on weekends.
- Teachers’ request
- Petitioners sought clarity and asked for on-duty status so teachers could be relieved from classroom duties during enumeration.
- Enumerator workload
- The state’s counsel said each enumerator must visit 150 houses in a month, or five premises a day.
- Roster responsibility
- The census authority’s lawyer said municipal charge officers and district divisional commissioners set duty rosters based on service conditions.
- Self-enumeration period
- The first 15 days, from August 1 to 15, were earmarked for self-enumeration.
