BHUBANESWAR: As incidents of assault and harassment of Census officials during field duty reported from several areas have raised an alarm, the state government on Thursday issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) mandating police support for enumerators and supervisors undertaking door-to-door visits for house listing and housing operations.
The Revenue and Disaster Management (R&DM) department has also advised field staff to engage with local community leaders prior to commencing work in any locality. This would help secure community support, facilitate smoother interactions and build trust for smooth conduct of Census activities, it emphasised.
The month-long house listing exercise started on April 16. However, reports of Census personnel, particularly enumerators and supervisors, being attacked during field duty have surfaced from several districts like Dhenkanal and Mayurbhanj. The incidents have prompted teachers’ associations to demand adequate protection and insurance coverage for personnel engaged in the enumeration process.
On Wednesday, three members of a family in Kamakhyanagar of Dhenkanal were arrested for allegedly attacking four teachers, including two women, during Census work, leaving them injured.
Additional chief secretary Revenue and Disaster Management department Arabinda Padhee asked all district collectors, SPs and municipal commissioners, and Census officers to strictly implement the directive. The SOP will ensure safety and security of officials, especially the enumerators and supervisors, and facilitate smooth and timely completion of the Census work in the state, Padhee said.
As per the SOP, the names and contact details of all Census enumerators and supervisors will be shared with the respective police stations and field staff will also be provided with contact details of the nearest police station.
Officials to get security cover in sensitive areas
The district administration will inform the police stations about the movement schedule of enumerators to ensure proper monitoring and support, while in areas identified as sensitive, security arrangements will be made, including deployment of police personnel with the enumerators and supervisors, if required.
Census charge officers will be responsible for ensuring that such security support is properly arranged and implemented.
The Census officials have also been asked to wear their official ID cards prominently and carry their appointment letters during field visits to establish their legitimacy and authority while interacting with the public. For safety reasons, especially in isolated or sensitive areas, the government has advised them to operate in pairs. Supervisors will have the responsibility to track the enumerators’ status every hour to monitor progress of the work and address the security concerns, if anything untoward occurs during field visit.
In situations where hostility or potential threats are encountered, the officials will immediately disengage and avoid any form of confrontation. “They can skip the concerned household or locality and revisit later with adequate protection. All such incidents must be reported promptly to higher authorities,” the SOP stated.
The SOP also warned that enumerators and supervisors are protected under the law while performing their duties. Any individual who obstructs or interferes with census work is liable for legal action under the Census Act, 1948 as amended and such offenses may result in penalties including fines and/or imprisonment for a term that may extend up to three years, the government stated.