3 minutes of readingBengaluruApril 19, 2026 03:47 pm IST
Bengaluru’s five municipal corporations have warned staff that stern action will be taken if they fail to perform the assigned work as per the ongoing National Census.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru North City Corporation (BNCC) on Saturday issued show cause notices to 527 employees who did not report for enumeration work under the National Census. BNCC also said that criminal cases would be filed under Section 11 of the Census Act and Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita against the erring employees. This would be in addition to internal disciplinary measures as per service standards.
The GBA had launched self-enumeration for the 2027 National Census, allowing citizens to participate in the house listing exercise between April 1 and 15, but this did not yield the expected results. According to GBA, less than 2 percent of households registered their entries online. The door-to-door survey for the house listing exercise has started and will end on May 15.
More than 23,000 enumerators and around 2,500 supervisors have been appointed to carry out census work in Bengaluru. The first phase involves listing and enumerating houses, after which the second phase of the census will begin in April 2027. If no one is present during the visit, enumerators will paste a sticker in front of the house with a contact number. Citizens can contact the number to schedule a new visit to complete the enumeration. Enumerators will initially conduct visits from 9 am to 5 pm. After a week, additional hours (6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) will be introduced for the convenience of citizens. Of the 26,000 employees involved in the registration process, 10,000 are teachers. Around 7,000 to 8,000 staff members have been exempted due to serious health problems, pregnancy, disability, mothers with babies under one year of age and other valid reasons.
While the GBA claimed that each enumerator was responsible for approximately 200 houses, some enumerators complained that they had been tasked with covering more than 300 houses. A 51-year-old school teacher from Attiguppe said: “On paper, they say it is only 200 houses, but I am building at least 350 houses. They have threatened us not to talk about it.”
The teacher brought a relative, who just finished her 10th Board exam, to help her with the census work. “My leg hurts and I can’t do it alone in this scorching heat. She came to my house during the holidays and I brought her here,” the enumerator said.
Another pollster said she has a lung infection but chose to do census work instead of requesting relaxation. “If I apply for exemption, they would make me visit their offices several times and ask me to answer all their queries. It is better for me to complete the census work. Another problem is that we have not received our March salaries and it has become difficult for us,” he added.
