Over a month after the city's teachers wrapped up their duty for Census 2011, officials have asked them to begin recounting after a shortfall of 1.5 lakh people was discovered between this and last year's census figures.
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| Manisha Maheskar, Additional Municipal Commissioner |
Over a month after the city's teachers wrapped up their duty for Census 2011, officials have asked them to begin recounting after a shortfall of 1.5 lakh people was discovered between this and last year's census figures.
Door-to-door enumeration was clubbed with collecting data for the creation of Unique Identification Cards (UIDs), a unique 12-digit number issued to every citizen of the country. The initiative began in eight wards of Mumbai on January 26. The UID will be a single number that will be useful for opening bank accounts, booking tickets on the Internet, buying monthly rations, etc.
Census duty was supposed to end by March 5. It has now been extended to March 9 on account of recounting. Teachers, obviously, are not amused.
While some claim that other enumerators may have skipped some buildings for not receiving payment for the work they put in last year, others claim several buildings they visited were unoccupied.
The shortfall of teachers in municipal schools is affecting the ongoing exams across BMC schools, where fewer teachers are available for supervision, causing overcrowding during exams.
A teacher in a South Mumbai school, said, on condition of anonymity, "We finished in the last week of February and were supposed to submit our report by the end of the month. But on March 5, most teachers were asked to go on field again."
Most enumerators, she says, showed 100 to 200 houses as 'locked'. Entire buildings were skipped by some. "This may have occurred since several teachers have not been paid for last year's census work."
However, a BMC school teacher denies the claim. "Government officials have asked teachers to do a recount assuming that locked houses mean that families were out on vacation. But we actually found some buildings vacant, and had to mention so clearly on the form."u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
Teachers going on the field for the second time have been instructed to take a neighbour's signature if a house is found locked. Ramesh Joshi, BMC School Teacher's Union General Secretary, says, "Structures that were visited last year might have been demolished this year.
Census counting happens every ten years. To be accurate, it is a teacher's duty to go on the field no matter how many times the government asks them to."
When contacted to confirm the shortage of 1.5 lakh in the city's population figure, Manisha Maheskar, Additional Municipal Commissioner, western suburbs, replied via SMS, "No it's not true."
