MP News: State To Deploy 46k Teachers For Census, Raising Classroom Concerns

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh government is likely to deploy nearly 46,000 teachers for the upcoming Census exercise, with one in five teachers in the state expected to be on Census duty.

This accounts for around 20% of the state’s permanent teaching workforce, raising concerns over possible disruption to regular classroom activities.

The state administration has begun preparations for the large-scale exercise, with officials relying heavily on teachers due to the technical and sensitive nature of the work. The process of finalising personnel is underway.

A senior official from the Office of the Director of Census Operations said Sub-Divisional Magistrates across districts are collecting and scrutinising lists of employees from various departments.

The Census will be conducted in two phases: house listing followed by population enumeration. Preparatory work has already started. In Bhopal, training of master trainers has been completed, and three to four trainers have been sent to each district to train selected staff ahead of the exercise.

Officials said the task requires trained and educated manpower, which is why teachers are being deployed in large numbers. “This is a technical and sensitive assignment. It must be handled by trained personnel, and teachers form a dependable pool,” the official said.

A senior officer from the School Education Department confirmed that instructions have been issued at the SDM level and names are being forwarded accordingly. The state has around 3.5 lakh permanent teachers and about 70,000 guest teachers, though only regular teachers are being considered for Census duty.

Bhuwan Gupta, Census Officer in Bhopal, said the city will require over 4,000 enumerators and around 670 supervisors, with nearly 65-70% of them expected to be teachers.

Teachers’ Association raises estimate

Upendra Kaushal, state president of the teachers’ association, said around 40,000 to 50,000 teachers are likely to be deployed for the Census exercise.

He added that teachers from primary to higher secondary levels will be involved, with high school teachers likely to be assigned supervisory roles. He said officials from urban local bodies have already started visiting schools to collect lists of teachers.

“The process has begun at the ground level. Training is expected to start from April,” he said.