Ten government enumerators have been booked in two FIRs by the Gurgaon Police for alleged negligence during the ongoing National Census 2027 operations by ‘failing’ to perform their assigned duties and ‘obstructing’ official government work. Several of them, however, flagged lack of support and issued with the app.
The first FIR was registered at the Gurgaon City Police Station late Sunday night on a complaint by Rajesh Yadav, Charge Officer Census-cum Zonal Taxation Officer-III of the Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG). It names five enumerators — Sandeep, Hansraj, Kuldeep, Rajesh Kumar, and Amit Kumar — who are government school teachers. The second FIR was filed at same police station based on complaint by Zonal Taxation Officer Dinesh Kumar on Monday afternoon against government school teachers Ravita Yadav, Jagmati, Sunil Kumar, Sunil, and Daisy Sharma.
According to the first FIR, the officials allegedly willfully defied government orders and failed to attend mandatory census training. Authorities, as per the FIR, observed that despite the lapse of a reasonable amount of time since their appointment in late April, enumerators failed to make a single data entry into the IILO App provided to them for house listing.
Speaking with The Indian Express, one of the accused in the FIR, Amit Kumar, who teaches at DLF Phase 1, said there has been no support from the top (his supervisor) regarding help in census work.
“I attended the training programmes earlier this month. They only send messages on the WhatsApp group and never come with us on the field. I have to cover 85 homes in my area, but the app does not work…,” he said.
Amit also said he has not received any notice from the police. “I could not make data entries because of software issues and was told I will be held up for it. Several teachers are facing such issues, they have sent show-cause notices to over 150,” he added.
The others were not available for comment.
The case has been registered under Section 11 of the Census Act. Under provisions of this Act, any public servant neglecting or refusing to perform assigned census duties is liable to face a fine of up to Rs 1,000, and in the case of a conviction, imprisonment that may extend to three years.
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MCG Commissioner Pradeep Dahiya, who chaired a census review meeting on Sunday, warned of severe departmental action. While the civic body had initially forwarded complaints recommending FIRs against 24 employees, cases have officially been registered against five so far.
Dahiya made it clear that employees who fail to commence their tasks despite the FIR will face immediate suspension and legal court proceedings. Stressing that the census is a task of national importance, the Commissioner issued a strict deadline for operations to begin across all blocks by Monday and directed Joint Commissioners to actively engage Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) to ensure smooth implementation.
When contacted, the complainant official, Rajesh Yadav, confirmed that more than a 100 ‘ill-performing’ enumerators have been asked to show cause.
“We had camps at Sector 14 to resolve all technology issues. There shouldn’t be any reason to not start work; the software issue can be for 8-10 people out of 1,000. Enumerators have told us about issues with the app or phone getting stuck, we have addressed those as and when, where they have resumed duty.”
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A Gurgaon Police spokesperson said investigation is under way, and further action in the matter will be taken as per the rules.
A similar administrative crackdown is underway in neighbouring Faridabad. Under the direction of Municipal Commissioner and Principal Census Officer Dhirendra Khadgata, and Additional Commissioner Gaurav Antil, authorities recommended FIRs under Section 11 of the Census Act against 22 enumerators for remaining absent without prior permission or valid reason.
The list of absentees included one employee from the Old Zone, nine from NIT, and 12 from the Ballabhgarh and Chandawali zones.
So far, police have registered FIRs against nine employees in Faridabad. However, Charge Officer Vikas Kanhaiya confirmed that after the initial letters were issued, eight teachers subsequently reported back to join their census duties, prompting the administration to withdraw the FIR requests against them. The Faridabad administration has reiterated that strict legal action will continue against those who refuse to comply with census mandates.
