Bengaluru: Deployment of 1 lakh teachers for census sparks backlash
Bengaluru: The state government’s decision to deploy over one lakh government school teachers for the 2027 population census has drawn strong criticism from the teaching community over increased workload.
Teachers from primary, higher primary and high schools will be involved in census enumeration starting April 16, while the self-evaluation process is already under way from April 1 to 15, The New Indian Express reported.
However, teachers have already expressed displeasure over the census duty assigned to them. They have said that there is no vacations or holidays for them due to extra workload apart from academic work assigned to them by the Department of School Education and Literacy.
After evaluating exam papers, they have to rush door-to-door collecting data on the total number of family members.
A high school teacher from Chikkaballapur government high school said, “I am on SSLC exam duty and April 2 will be the last exam. From April 7 to 12, we need to finish the evaluation of answer papers of exam-1. From April 16, we need to rush to complete the population census.
With the harsh summer, we need to do this job from 6.30am to 11.30am and resume again from 4.30pm to 8.30pm. Again, we have to resume exam duty for SSLC exam-1 from the first week of May 2026. At least they exempt SSLC exam evaluators like us. It is difficult to manage it throughout the year.”
Chandrashekar Nuggali, president, Karnataka State Primary School Teachers Association (KPSTA), said they have written to the Revenue Department to provide exemptions for teachers above 50 years of age due to health concerns and rising temperatures, but the proposal was rejected.
“This decision was taken after school teachers died on duty during the SIR process in other states. However, the Revenue Department has rejected our request. We had also requested the School Education Department to exempt teachers on SSLC exam duty from the population census job, but even that has been rejected. We have tried to speak to different ministers but nothing has worked in favour of teachers so far.”
Responding to the concerns, School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa said the issue was discussed in the Assembly, acknowledging that it adds to teachers’ workload. “While we understand the problem, we cannot involve or outsource agencies for these kinds of important tasks requiring data collection. So we have to deploy teachers on census enumeration duty,” he said.
When asked if there is a discussion to bring a new Act to not involve teachers in any other jobs except academics, he said, “For now, there are no such talks, and it is difficult to bring one.”
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
