A municipal school teacher engaged in India’s first digital Census exercise was allegedly abused and obstructed while carrying out her official duties in Nagpur, prompting the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to seek registration of an FIR.
However, police registered only a non-cognisable (NC) offence in the matter.The incident occurred on Tuesday when Srushti Tanmay Vase, a teacher and member of the Census survey team, visited Harshad Apartment in the Sakkardara area to collect information as part of the ongoing Census verification drive.
According to the complaint, Vase approached the residence of Nana Babu Bhagat and Prachi Ane, introduced herself and displayed her official identity card before requesting details required for the Census. The residents allegedly refused to provide the information, questioned the authenticity of the government Census application and verbally abused the teacher.
The complaint further states that the residents attempted to discourage participation in the Census exercise, creating obstacles in the collection of official data and preventing the enumerator from carrying out her assigned work.Taking serious note of the incident, the NMC’s Assistant Commissioner of Nehru Nagar Zone-5 wrote to the police on the same day, seeking registration of an FIR against those accused of obstructing government work. Despite this, police registered a non-cognisable offence under Section 222(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The incident has highlighted the challenges faced by Census enumerators involved in the nationwide exercise. Teachers and government employees assigned to the survey have reportedly been encountering growing mistrust, reluctance to share information and suspicion regarding digital data collection despite carrying official authorisation.With Census verification work scheduled to be completed by June 14, the episode has raised concerns about the protection available to government-appointed enumerators carrying out a crucial national task.
The data collected through the Census forms the basis for future policy decisions, welfare schemes and development planning, making the smooth conduct of the exercise essential
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