New Delhi: On October 17, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Jairam Ramesh, took to social media platform X, as he raised concerns over recent changes introduced by the government in the criteria for selection of enumerators who are supposed to aid the ongoing Census drive. “The Modi government has now expanded the list of eligible enumerators for Census 2027. There is much mischief behind it. During 10-12 July, 2026, the RSS held a big training camp in Belgaum for its cadres on the single-point agenda of Census 2027”, Ramesh wrote on X. “It is clear this is a Rozgar Guarantee Yojana for thousands of RSS/BJP workers…Like SIR, the Census will also be dangerously doctored,” Ramesh further added in his post.The current controversy stems from a Gazette Notification issued by the Registrar General of India on October 16, 2026 through which the Centre amended the Census Rules 1990. According to a PTI report, while the 1990 rules said that “teachers, clerks, or any official or any person can be appointed as census officers”, the recent notification has tweaked the definition of teacher thereby allowing academicians from private institutions to also take part in the population enumeration process. Thus, the October 2026 amendment now states that “teachers of any educational institution of the government, local authority, aided or unaided private bodies, societies or trusts can be appointed as Census officers.”This is not all. While listing three categories of individuals who can also be chosen as enumerators, a rather vague and opaque criteria emerges in the form of point number 3 which states “any person, as the state government or the Union territory administration may consider suitable can be appointed as census officer.” As reported by The Wire earlier, the 40-point questionnaire introduced as part of the statistical analysis had also triggered fears whether the Census was being used to conduct a National Population Register (NPR)-like exercise as responses were sought to questions related to bank account details, parents’ background and place of Covid vaccination among others. In June 2026, The Hindu had also reported that ‘census enumerators were being asked not to select options that show the government in poor light.’ The written instructions had been issued to census officers in Rajasthan with respect to the government scheme-related options such as open defecation, usage of wood or dung cakes as fuel in households and tap water.