Mistaken for NRC staff, govt surveyors detained in Greater Noida village

GREATER NOIDA: A group of villagers mistook four government employees conducting the seventh economic census as surveyors of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and detained them for one hour in Jarcha area of Greater Noida on Tuesday morning, police said.

The team of surveyors was held hostage and manhandled by the crowd. The team’s supervisor later reached the spot but he was also taken hostage and manhandled. A team from Jarcha police station rescued the four workers and registered a case against one named and 40 unnamed persons, investigators said.

The supervisor was identified as Raj Singh, who runs a private school and also a Common Service Centres (CSC), authorised to conduct the Census. He had hired three workers – Kuldeep, Tarun and Satyendra – for the work.

Hemant Singh, district economic statistical officer, Gautam Budh Nagar, said the Union ministry of statistics and programme implementation is conducting the 7th Economic Census in the country. The Gautam Budh Nagar administration had also shared an informatory video clip that the exercise will be conducted from January 7.

A ministry document states that the Economic Census aims to provide; a nationwide register as per international practices; detailed information on economic variables, activity wise; comprehensive analysis of the structure of the economy; and number of workers.

Six Economic Census have been conducted earlier throughout the country during the year 1977,1980,1990, 1998, 2005 and 2013.

The information is used to frame government policies. Singh said the government had appointed CSC to conduct economic surveys in Greater Noida villages. Three employees – Tarun, Kuldeep and Satyendra – had reached Chollas village on Tuesday to conduct the survey. This is a door-to-door survey and the details are uploaded online through a mobile app,” Singh said.

Raja Singh said during the exercise a person named Javed started creating ruckus. “Javed, a resident of Delhi, had come to Greater Noida at his maternal uncle’s place. He argued with the team, saying they were conducting surveys for NRC,” Raja Singh told the police. Soon a crowd gathered at the spot and the three persons were held hostage

Bahadur Ali, husband of village pradhan Kishwar Zehra, pacified the local residents. “The district administration had informed us that the economic survey is being conducted. We talked to the protesters but some of them did not relent. We then called the police,” he said.

Rajesh Kumar Singh, DCP, Greater Noida, said: “Jarcha police have registered a case against Javed and 40 other persons under section 147 (rioting), section 343 (wrongful consignment), section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and section 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC. The police team is investigating the matter from all angles,” he said.

The police are yet to arrest anyone in the case.

In a separate complaint, Raj Singh said hat he filed the first complaint due to a misunderstanding. “Javed and the village pradhan’s husband Bahadur Ali had a heated argument. I had informed my seniors and then filed a complaint in Jarcha police station. The village elders held a meeting on Wednesday and resolved the issue,” Singh said in the second complaint.

DCP Singh said, “We have not quashed the FIR in this case. Primary investigation shows the census workers were detained by a group of people. The investigation shows the workers were not beaten up,” he said.