MADURAI: Teachers in Madurai appointed as enumerators in the ongoing Census exercise have alleged irregularities in duty allocation, stating that they have been assigned to areas far from their regular workplace with no consideration of their health conditions.
Pointing out that the long commute has added workload pressure and unnecessary hardships, teachers’ associations claim that over 10% were assigned to areas far from their workplace, forcing them to spend hours commuting every day.
More than 3,000 teachers were deployed as enumerators and supervisors for the Census exercise between August 1 and August 31 in Madurai city and the district.
A Suseela (name changed), a teacher working within the Madurai corporation limits, said she was disappointed that her request was ignored despite her having submitted a medical certificate.
“I informed the authorities that I am undergoing treatment for breast cancer and submitted all the required medical documents. Even then, I was assigned Census duty in an area far from my workplace. Travelling such a long distance every day has become physically exhausting,” she said.
Another teacher, J Sharmila (name changed), said she works in the Therkuvasal area but was assigned Census duty in Nilayur, around 10.5 km away.
“The collector’s circular clearly stated that enumerators should be assigned to their own workplace as far as possible. If that is not feasible, they should be allotted nearby areas. But what happened in reality is quite different,” she said.
Speaking to TNIE, Tamil Nadu Primary School Teachers Association(TNPTA) district secretary P Srinivasan alleged that the deployment was not carried out in accordance with the Union government’s guidelines.
“The Union government has clearly listed the categories of teachers who can be exempted from Census duty, including those with serious health conditions and those above 55 years of age. However, these guidelines were not followed,” he claimed.
“We submitted several representations to the district administration highlighting these deviations. While a few cases were reviewed and duty locations were changed, many teachers continue to face difficulties. We have received a large number of complaints, particularly from Sedapatti
and Kallupatti taluks,” he added. When contacted by TNIE, district collector Nishanth Krishna assured that he would look into the issue.