With census operations gathering pace in Haryana, authorities have lodged FIRs against 22 employees and recommended FIRs against 40 others for failing to participate in the exercise. A few employees have also been suspended.

The move has drawn sharp criticism from employees’ bodies, which argued that registering FIRs or suspending staff without an inquiry was harsh and unjustified. Employee leaders said the reasons behind the absences should have been examined first, as some employees may have had genuine or unavoidable circumstances.

Two FIRs were lodged in Gurgaon against 10 employees, including teachers and Anganwadi workers, while another FIR was registered against nine employees in Faridabad. In Kurukshetra, two clerks faced FIRs, and a teacher in Bhiwani district was also booked. Additional recommendations for FIRs against 22 employees have been sent to Faridabad police, while Sonipat police received recommendations against 18 more employees.

Gurgaon Municipal Corporation Commissioner Pradeep Dahiya confirmed that two FIRs had been lodged against 10 employees for remaining absent from census duty without citing any reasons. The FIRs were filed under Section 11 of the Census Act, 1948.

According to the FIR, the employees failed to discharge their duties with due diligence, thereby obstructing smooth census operations. One FIR registered at Gurgaon City Police Station on May 18 stated: “Their absence from the mandatory training demonstrates negligence and dereliction of duty in relation to an important national assignment… the enumerator failed to attend the mandatory census training and also refused to comply with repeated official instructions issued from time to time. Such conduct reflects gross negligence towards assigned government responsibilities and has caused obstruction in the smooth execution of official census work, thereby adversely affecting the preparedness and progress of census operations.”

Dahiya said the departments concerned had been asked to suspend negligent employees. He added that 213 persons had not yet reported for census duty and warned that strict action would also be taken against them.

“There is a provision of up to three years’ imprisonment for those who create hindrance in census work or refuse census duty,” he said.

Dahiya added that employees from both government and private sectors, including banks and private schools, had been deputed for census work.

In Sonipat, the Municipal Corporation lodged a police complaint against 18 employees assigned as enumerators or supervisors for remaining absent. In Bhiwani district, a teacher was booked for negligence and for allegedly using unparliamentary language with an official who had sought an explanation.

In Kurukshetra, two clerks were suspended for failing to initiate census work, apart from an FIR being registered against them. Sub-Divisional Magistrate Shambhu Rathee said both clerks had ignored repeated notices and failed to respond.

The action has upset employee leaders across Haryana. Haryana Vidyalaya Adhyapak Sangh president Prabhu Singh acknowledged the importance of census, election and disaster management duties, but argued that feasibility should be considered before assigning responsibilities.

He said some teachers had been assigned census duties 60 km away from their schools, making it difficult to balance teaching and census work. He added that election duties had already disrupted teaching in many schools and that assigning census work to teachers amid thousands of vacancies was unfair.

He suggested that unemployed youth should be deputed to assist census staff instead.

Subhash Lamba, president of the All India State Government Employees Federation, said employees may have genuine reasons such as illness or family emergencies, and FIRs in such cases only add to their problems.

Census work in Haryana officially began on May 1, 2026, with house-listing and enumeration operations launched across the state. Citizens can contact the national toll-free helpline number 1855 for information related to Census 2027, where queries regarding house-listing and the housing census can be answered in their own language.

Director of Census Operations, Haryana, Lalit Jain said census work had picked up pace after a recent meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary and expressed confidence that the exercise would be completed by May 30.

He said work had commenced in more than 97 per cent of the total houselisting blocks across Haryana, with districts such as Yamuna Nagar, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Fatehabad, Hansi, Charkhi Dadri and Faridabad achieving 100 per cent commencement of houselisting activities.