Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has raised objections to a decision by the central government to broaden the pool of people who can work as enumerators in Census 2027, contending that the change leaves the exercise open to political influence and may undermine the reliability of a count that forms the foundation of the country's demographic data.

In a post on X, Ramesh laid out a three-part argument tying together the 16 October notification that amended the Census Rules, 1990, an RSS training camp convened in Belgaum during July, and a call for public input on demographic shifts issued by a committee set up under the Union Home Ministry. Taken together, those developments raised questions — in his view — about whether the upcoming census would run without outside influence or retain the confidence of the public.

Ramesh characterised the amendment as a measure that would open up employment avenues for RSS and BJP workers, arguing that the government had effectively created a job-guarantee scheme tailored to its own party networks. He went on to claim that Census 2027 was at risk of being manipulated, drawing a parallel with questions raised over the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

The allegations have come to the fore as the administration prepares to conduct the country's eighth national census since Independence — an enumeration exercise built to collect a wide range of demographic, socio-cultural, and economic data from the population.

A three-day gathering of RSS members in Belgaum, running from 10 to 12 July 2026, focused its proceedings entirely on preparations for the 2027 Census. A public consultation launched by the Union Home Ministry's High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes — constituted on 26 May 2026 — invited submissions from domestic and overseas organisations, as well as members of the general public, regarding population shifts across the country.

A census notification dated 16 October 2026 came after an RSS training camp held on 10–12 July 2026 and a request for inputs from the Demographic Change Committee on 14 October 2026.

A gazette notification dated 16 October, put out under the authority of the Registrar General of India's office and bearing the Home Affairs Ministry's stamp, introduced amendments to the Census Rules of 1990. Under the amendment, a broader range of individuals becomes eligible for appointment to carry out enumerator duties.

Qualifying groups under the updated framework span teachers employed at government-run and local-authority schools, alongside staff at both aided and unaided private institutions, as well as those working within societies and trusts. Personnel employed across Central and state government departments, local bodies, and a broad array of organisations — spanning public sector undertakings, statutory authorities, banking institutions, incorporated companies, and registered trusts — fall within the scope of these provisions. Under the disputed clause, state governments and Union Territory administrations hold the authority to designate any individual they deem fit to carry out enumerator responsibilities.

Drawing authority from Section 18(1) of the Census Act, 1948, the order went out under Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, who holds the combined post of Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner. Publishing the revised regulations in the Official Gazette brought them into legal effect at that moment.

Eligibility requirements for enumerators appear in the notification, though no reference to political parties or the RSS is included among its provisions.

Ramesh's position was that the notification needed to be read alongside its broader context, not treated as a standalone document. During the three-day RSS gathering in Belgaum between 10 and 12 July 2026, the agenda — according to his account — centred on preparations for Census 2027. Among the points he raised was a reference to the panel on demographic shifts formed by the Union Home Ministry on 26 May 2026, which had opened a window for submissions from the public — including both domestic and foreign organisations — on 14 October.

Ramesh raised objections to the panel's composition in his post, arguing that affiliations several members held with what he described as the RSS ecosystem cast doubt on the sources the body would draw from — and that the government notification, an RSS training camp, and the panel's call for submissions ought to be understood as interrelated developments rather than three unconnected events.

The post from Ramesh contained no supporting documentation to back up his assertions that RSS or BJP workers had been placed among the enumerators, nor that any tampering had occurred with census figures. What he put forward centres on how the broadened eligibility criteria might play out in practice.

Pending court disputes over the use of teachers drawn from both private aided and unaided schools in census operations form part of the wider context surrounding the rule change. A stay was placed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on two Haryana government communications that had requested information about teachers available for census duties, after the Haryana Progressive Schools Conference filed a petition challenging them. Those filing the petition contended that employees at privately run, unaided schools fell outside the personnel-requisition provisions laid down under the Census Act of 1948.

A stay was placed by the Allahabad High Court on a directive requiring aided and unaided institutions in Gautam Budh Nagar to furnish rosters of their teaching and non-teaching personnel. In a separate proceeding, educators at Centre Point School brought a petition before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court contesting their assignment to census-related fieldwork.

Pandemic-era public health measures pushed the 2021 census off its planned timetable. Two distinct stages will structure the upcoming count: an initial phase dedicated to listing households and cataloguing dwellings, followed by a second phase focused on recording the population itself. A funding allocation of Rs 11,718 crore for the initiative received clearance from the Union Cabinet.

The notification's stated function is to set out the qualifying conditions for enumerator positions — a role that carries no built-in indication of the political affiliations of whoever might eventually be appointed, and includes no provisions addressing the data-collection process.