The census department has asked the Orissa government to ensure accuracy in counting of people and house listing in some pockets of the state as they reported a decrease in population in the last census, an official said Tuesday. At least 101 out of 171 “tehsils” (sub-district administrative units) responsible for conducting census in several villages under their jurisdiction had shown less than the state average growth rate of population as per 2001 census, according to official data.
The national growth rate of population for the decade 1991-2001 was 21.54 percent. In comparison, Orissa only showed a growth rate of population of 16.25 percent. The Patnagarh tehsil in Bolangir district had reported the alarming decrease of population by 4.55 percent over the decade 1991-2001. There were at least 17 numbers of tehsils, which showed a population growth rate of less than 10 percent.
“The abnormal rates may be due to migration,” Bishnupada Sethi, director of census operation in Orissa, told. “We have asked local authorities to create public awareness in all the pockets, which reported less than normal growth of population,” he said. He said they had village-wise information for the entire state and have offered to share it with the officials of the district administration concerned for any review.
The 2011 Census of India is being conducted in two phases, namely house listing operation and population enumeration. The house listing operation along with collection of information for preparation of a National Population Register started in the State from April 7 and will conclude on May 22.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Census panel alerts Orissa officials on migration
Gurgaon ropes in private school teachers for count
If your children happen to study in one of the prominent private schools in Gurgaon, chances are they may not be having many classes this entire week -- thanks to a desperate measure by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon.
Teachers from at least 28 private schools have been roped in for census duty by the administration after a large number of government employees produced medical certificates to exempt themselves from the work. The Haryana state-level census programme was launched from Gurgaon on Sunday by chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The district was to have 2,048 government employees as enumerators apart from 223 supervisors. However, as many as 1,800 employees never turned up for training in spite of repeated notices. Most of them came up with frivolous excuses in order to excuse themselves for not doing the census duty, with a majority submitting medical certificates citing illness. The desperate authorities then decided to rope in teachers of 52 private schools in Gurgaon, including reputed ones like Shri Ram and Amity, to fill in the numbers. Officially though, the administration said only 28 private schools were sounded out for the work. "We were running short of manpower to conduct the census survey till Monday but we have asked the private schools in Gurgaon to cooperate and send their teachers to carry out the task. We hope this will not impact teaching in schools as most of these institutions have closed for summer vacations," said Rajesh Khullar, commissioner, MCG. That, however, isn't true since many schools are open at least till the rest of this week.
The teachers said they were being arm-twisted into doing government's work. "This request came as an unpleasant surprise for us. About a fortnight ago, I received a letter from the commissioner asking me to send all my teachers for census duty. It also states that those who refuse will be imprisoned for three years. Our school closes for summer vacation on May 10. I fail to understand why are they doing this to us. In private schools like ours, parents pay through their nose so that their children get good education. I have sent most of my teachers for this survey but the syllabus is getting effected," said a principal of a private school, requesting anonymity. The problem does not end just there. The teachers, most of whom are women, have been assigned to far-flung areas. "Some of my woman teachers have been sent to villages like Kanhai, which has a high crime rate. I am being forced to send a few class four employees to accompany them for safety. Most of the teachers reside in Delhi and are finding it hard to reach these areas. Moreover, their vacation travel plans with their families have gone haywire," she added. Others, too, felt they were trapped. "Even though we understand the need for us to do this survey, the clause which says that we can be imprisoned for three years if we refuse to do so is what is bothering us. Of course, we don't want to be on the wrong side of law. The security for woman teachers will be an issue and I hope the authorities look into this matter," said Manju Bharat Ram, chairperson, Shri Ram schools. Under section 6 of the Indian Census Act, 1948, any person in charge of a lunatic asylum, hospital, workhouse, prison, reformatory or lock-up or of any public, charitable or educational institution can be asked to perform the duties of the census officer. A person who refuses to perform these duties shall be deemed to have committed an offence under section 187 of the Indian Penal Code.
The municipal commissioner, however, insisted that according to the law anybody meeting certain qualifications can be asked to do the duty. "According to the Indian Census Act anybody fulfilling certain qualifications can be asked to do the census survey and if they refuse to do so they can be imprisoned for up to three years. It is a cognizable offence. I will be taking action against those government employees who have not turned up for duty," he said.
Union Cabinet Discusses Caste Data in Census
Against the backdrop of demand for inclusion of caste data in the on-going Census, the Union Cabinet today discussed the issue at length but there was no consensus.
The cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, took up the issue to ascertain views of its members ahead of a discussion expected in Parliament tomorrow.The issue, which was included in the cabinet agenda an hour before the meeting, saw many ministers favouring inclusion of caste data in the census, sources said. However, there was a feeling against carrying out the exercise at this stage as the enumeration of the population has already begun since April 1.
Sources said another opinion voiced in the meeting was that census is not the "right mechanism" for determining the caste data. The discussion was inconclusive and it was decided that the matter would be debated in the next cabinet meeting as well. Leaders, mostly from Other Backward Castes, cutting across party lines have demanded that caste be included in the census exercise. A discussion on the issue is scheduled for tomorrow in Parliament.
The last census in which caste data was collected, was in 1931. Even Law Minister M Veerappa Moily has agreed to include caste in census.Opposition parties, including BJP, SP, RJD, JD(U) and CPI, have been demanding that since reservation and other benefits were given to people on the basis of caste, government should include it in the census data being collected across the country.Raising the issue in Lok Sabha yesterday, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj had said government should agree to a debate on allowing caste-based census to resolve the issue. Among the several ministers who participated in today's cabinet discussion on caste census were Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram, M Veerappa Moily, A Raja, Anand Sharma and Farooq Abdullah who articulated pros and cons of the issue, sources said.Urban Housing Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran also took part in the discussions.
The census operation comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Caste-based census not possible at present stage: Moily
"Now the census (2011) has already started and formats are being finalised. So how it would be done at this stage," said Moily outside the Parliament."I had written to the Prime Minister six months back for it (caste-based census)," he added.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) are also demanding caste-based census in the country." After 1931, no caste-based data was prepared and the Centre also does not have any caste-based data of its own. Government depends upon states for it," said Moily."It is required for implementation of different schemes and employment programmes for the OBCs," he added.
Demanding for a caste based census keeping especially backward sections in mind, the Samajwadi Party on April 20 targeted the centre for conspiring against interest of OBCs.Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, which was all set to launch census in February 2011 have ill intentions in denying to conduct it on caste basis.Stressing that caste based census was instrumental in formulating the government schemes, targeting sections lacking in development, Yadav said, several welfare schemes meant for ackward castes and minorities initiated after independence were based on 1931 census which was carried on caste basis.
Oppn wants govt to include caste question in census
The opposition has criticised the Centre for not including caste-figures and economic status of people in the census data. Following the Opposition onslaught, the government agreed to have a full-fledged discussion on the subject under Rule 193, which does not entail voting, in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Raising the issue soon after the House reassembled at 2 pm, Opposition Leader Sushma Swaraj said government should agree to a debate on allowing caste-based census, which could also compile data on poverty indices to settle dispute on the actual poverty figures. She also expressed serious concern over the insertion of a new column, ‘nationality as declared’, which allowed the people to declare their nationality. ``Earlier, officials involved in census operations used to first verify nationality claims of the people. The new system would legitimise the claims of illegal immigrants, who had crossed into the country from countries such as Bangladesh,’’ she opined.
Later in the day, former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu, while speaking to newspersons, asked the government to delink the census operation from the exercise to create the National Population Register. ``Our fear is that clubbing the two operations together would open up possibilities for illegal immigrants to legitimise their status for good,’’ he said. BJP has already given notice for a discussion on caste-based census. Similar notices had been given by the Samajwadi Party and RJD.
