Khliehriat(Meghalaya), May 05 : The Jaintia National Council, Khliehriat Circle, on Monday demanded an immediate halt to the deployment of government school teachers for Census 2027 House Listing Operations in East Jaintia Hills, calling it a direct violation of the Constitution and the Right to Education Act that leaves tribal children without classroom instruction.
In a formal objection submitted to the Deputy Commissioner and Principal Census Officer, JNC Working President Diamon Bareh and General Secretary Symboh Baiar Sumer said teachers were being pulled out during active school hours across the district, stripping students of their only access to education. Bareh said Section 27 of the RTE Act, 2009, allows a limited exception for census duty but does not authorise the State to empty classrooms of teachers. He cited the Allahabad High Court’s ruling in Chandani Devi & Ors vs State of UP which held that such deployment cannot disrupt teaching. Section 25 of the Act requires the pupil-teacher ratio to be maintained at all times, a mandate the Council said is being openly defied in schools across East Jaintia Hills. Article 21-A guarantees every child the fundamental right to education and the administration cannot claim to uphold that right while diverting teachers for census paperwork, Bareh added.
The Council also questioned the use of central funds, pointing out that the Union Government has sanctioned Rs 11,718.24 crore for Census 2027 to cover the enumeration workforce. It demanded a public accounting of how much was spent to hire civilian enumerators in East Jaintia Hills and how much was saved by deploying teachers. There is no financial justification for using teachers and this is administrative convenience paid for by tribal children, Bareh said.
JNC further alleged a complete failure to run meaningful awareness for the Self Enumeration facility open from May 1 to 15, 2026. With most rural households lacking internet access and no local language option on the Census portal, the awareness effort was limited to social media posts and two written public notices, effectively excluding thousands of tribal families, the group said. There were no block-level help desks, no village outreach, no community radio campaigns, and no engagement with Dorbar Shnong, it added.
The Council asked the Deputy Commissioner to immediately halt all teacher deployment orders during school hours, recruit civilian enumerators from the Census budget to protect education and generate local employment, set up block-level Census facilitation help desks with Pnar-speaking staff before May 15, extend the self-enumeration window for remote blocks, and submit a written compliance report within seven days disclosing teacher deployment figures and budget utilisation. It warned that it would escalate the matter through other means if the demands were not met.
The Deputy Commissioner told the delegation that he would take up the issue with the State Government. Bareh said the students of East Jaintia Hills are not collateral damage to administrative convenience and the Council will not allow constitutional rights to be sacrificed for bureaucratic shortcuts.
