Row over NPR, NRC hits Bengal Census exercise
Process of identifying enumerators yet to start after mob attacks on data collectors
nKOLKATA: Amid growing tensions over the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) across West Bengal, preparations for the house-listing phase of the census of 2021 has been hit in the state, with district-level preparations running way behind schedule, officials said.
The process of identifying enumerators was originally supposed to be completed by December 2019. After the Trinamool Congress government in mid-december decided against collecting data for NPR during the house-listing phase of the census, West Bengal officials issued fresh orders mentioning only the Census and sought data from the districts by the end of January.
The process has been halted altogether after a series of mob attacks on government employees and workers of non-government organisations (NGOS) who travelled to villages to collect various data in January.
“All work related to census has been halted. Nothing is happening for the time being. No enumerator has been identified or appointed,” said Biswajit Majumdar, block development officer (BDO) of Raghunathganj II community development block in Murshidabad district.
On January 2, Majumdar had written to government officials of various departments within his jurisdiction to submit details of officers and staff at their respective offices by January 16.
“Identification of enumerators has been put on hold. Since the NPR has been linked with census and NPR is the first step towards NRC, we first need to get a clear idea on how to separate the two,” said the chairman of a civic body in Hooghly district who did not want to identify himself.
The Centre has asked all states to update the National Population Register, a database of all usual residents in the country, with the house-listing exercise of the Census. The National Register of Citizens would be a subset of the NPR. However, the MHA informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday that as of now there was no decision on implementing NRC.
Murshidabad zilla parishad sabhadhipati (chairman of the district council) Mosharaf Hossain said that the process had been halted because of tension on the ground where those going to households to collect data could face mob fury.
“The administration will first wait for the tension to ease, and launch a campaign differentiating between census and NPR, before attempting to start the house-listing exercise,” said Gorachand Barman, BDO, Mayureshwar, Birbhum district.
The house-listing phase has to be completed within a 45-day period at any time between April and September. Enumerators are appointed from among primary and secondary school teachers and other staff and various government departments, including municipalities and panchayats.
With Raghunathganj II, an average-sized block, requiring 105 supervisors and 625 enumerators, and the state having 343 blocks, the required number of enumerators and supervisors for the rural areas is estimated at about 250,000.
There are 22 municipal corporations and 114 municipalities in the state, estimated to require another 100,000 enumerators and supervisors, according to a census official.
While the states can choose the 45-day period according to its preference, a senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) minister who did not want to be identified said that the government was unlikely to push for the exercise before the municipal elections in more than 100 civic bodies, which are expected to be held during April and May.
Asked if the census preparations in West Bengal were as in line with the schedule, Keka Ghosh, a deputy director at the directorate of census operations in West Bengal, said, “No comments on the census.”
Badaruddoza Khan, a former Lok Sabha member belonging to the CPI (Marxist) and a leader of the All Bengal Teachers’ Association, said that a large number of teachers were in a state of panic.
“The ground situation is very tense. An intense campaign is needed to convince people that the Census has nothing to do with NRC...,” said Khan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed the TMC and the Left for triggering the panic. “TMC leaders are openly asking people to beat up those who would be going to their home seeking information...,” said Sayantan Basu, BJP state general secretary.