In one of the first such instances, the Haryana administration has recommended the registration of a first information report (FIR) against two government school staff for alleged negligence in Census-related work and for obstructing government duties. The Census Act allows for up to three years’ imprisonment for such offences.

The criminal action comes even as Census enumerators, mostly government school teachers, complained of hostile behaviour and denial of entry by residents of highrise apartment buildings and residents welfare associations (RWAs).

On Thursday (May 7, 2026), Gurugram Municipal Corporation Joint Commissioner and Census Nodal Officer Punit Kumar said that Census enumerators had been denied entry to several housing societies despite showing their identity cards. He said he has informed all RWAs and managements of housing societies that the government has deputed officers and enumerators for Census work and directed that they be allowed to carry out their work.

“Several enumerators had this complaint that gated societies were not letting them enter to do the Census related field work. Following this, I have written to all RWAs that they should be allowed entry in the societies, after verifying the identity cards and authorisation letter. The Census work is being carried out in public interest,” Mr. Kumar told The Hindu.

Awareness campaigns

Census officials are conducting public outreach campaigns on social media to inform people that their data will be kept confidential and no resident will lose access to government schemes based on the enumeration data.

Registrar General of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan flagged off six awareness vans on Thursday as part of the Census 2027 public outreach campaign in Delhi for the ongoing first phase of Census 2027, i.e., the Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO). These vans will travel across Delhi, carrying messages on Census participation, the self-enumeration facility, key features of Census 2027, and the importance of public cooperation with enumerators during field visits, a government statement said.

The campaign aims to ensure wider dissemination of information, enhance public awareness, and facilitate the smooth conduct of Census operations in the National Capital Territory.

Penalty for obstruction

Mr. Narayan wrote to States on March 17 informing them that any Census official who refuses to perform their duty or damages and destroys any Census document will face up to three years of imprisonment.

Mr. Kumar said that under Section 11 of the Census Act, 1948, if any person shows negligence in the work assigned to them, refuses to perform the work, or obstructs the work of a census officer, there is a provision for punishment of up to three years’ imprisonment.

He said that a supervisor appointed for Census work had reported that staff from the GMPS School, Garhi Harsaru, and OMP School, Sector-1, Manesar were appointed as enumerators. “Despite being informed several times, both individuals are being negligent in their duties and are refusing to carry out Census work. Their duty has been assigned within the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation, and due to their conduct, an important task like the census is being obstructed. There are others also who are refusing to do the work, action will be initiated against them too,” Mr. Kumar said.

First phase ongoing

The first phase of the Census began on April 1 and will conclude by September 30 across the country. Around 30 lakh enumerators are to be engaged. About 92 lakh households have successfully completed self-enumeration across 23 States and Union Territories through the official portal so far, the statement added.

This is the first digital Census and the first to enumerate caste and allow self enumeration. The last Population Census was conducted in 2011. Caste will be counted in the second phase in February 2027, except in Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, where both the phases are to be completed by September 30.

House visits by the enumerators are currently underway in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Delhi (NDMC and Delhi Cantonment Board areas), Goa, Haryana, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand