The Sampadak Express News Desk
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M.A. Baby has written to President Droupadi Murmu seeking her intervention to ensure the withdrawal of recent amendments to the Census Rules that permit the deployment of private individuals as census enumerators and allow States and Union Territories to appoint any person they deem suitable, according to a report by The Hindu.
Mr. Baby warned that the expanded eligibility could open the door to arbitrary and politically influenced appointments. The amended rules enable teachers from aided and unaided private educational institutions; employees of institutions, societies and trusts; and officials and clerical staff of public sector undertakings, statutory bodies, banks and companies to be engaged for Census work. They also empower State governments and Union Territory administrations to appoint any person they consider suitable for enumeration duties.
In his letter, Mr. Baby said the changes “raise serious questions” about selection criteria, impartiality and safeguards against partisan interference. He argued that granting broad discretion to administrations “without clearly specified criteria or publicly accountable safeguards” creates considerable scope for appointments driven by political considerations.
The CPI(M) leader also voiced privacy and trust concerns, noting that the Census involves extensive personal data collection and that residents may hesitate to share sensitive information with enumerators in whom they have limited confidence.
Highlighting the current political context, he cautioned that people fear the information they provide could be used to profile them politically, target particular communities, question their citizenship or exclude them from rights and entitlements.
Mr. Baby cited specific data points reportedly sought in the Census questionnaire — including religion of parents, bank account details, Aadhaar and other identification documents, passport details and mobile numbers — and warned that the exercise must not be turned into “an instrument of surveillance, citizenship determination or electoral exclusion.” He said the Census must not become “another SIR.”
Calling the Census a national exercise that “belongs to the people of India,” he urged the President, as the constitutional head, to press the Union government to roll back the amendments and to ensure the count proceeds in line with constitutional principles and public trust.
