Kolkata, 19 August (H.S.): The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday once again expressed concern over the deployment of government school teachers for census-related duties. After concluding the hearing on the matter, a bench of Justice Krishna Rao reserved its order.

During the hearing, Justice Rao observed, “Teachers have to teach. Either deploy them for census work or let them teach.”

Meanwhile, the School Education Department on Wednesday urged the state Home Department to ensure that the interests of students are protected even when teachers are assigned census duties. Teacher organisations, however, have raised concerns over the directive, arguing that the education of students would inevitably suffer if a large number of teachers were deployed for census work.

Bhaskar Ghosh, state secretary of the Primary Teachers Welfare Association, questioned how teachers could carry out census duties after teaching at schools from 10.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. He also pointed out that teachers were being required to visit different areas after school hours to conduct census-related work despite the monsoon.

Ghosh further questioned why teachers were being asked to work beyond the designated census duty hours when the official schedule had been fixed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

On the other hand, Asit Mondal, convenor of the BJP Primary Teachers' Cell, said the census is conducted once every 10 years. While acknowledging that the exercise places an additional workload on teachers, he said everyone should cooperate in the national interest.

During Wednesday's hearing, the state government informed the High Court that it was withdrawing its August 3 notification, which had provided for teachers to undertake census duties after school hours. Under the revised notification, teachers will be allowed to perform census work as part of their official duty.

The High Court also directed that teachers undergoing D.El.Ed training should be exempted from census duty.

The High Court had earlier questioned the large-scale deployment of teachers for census-related work. The court had observed that instead of assigning a large number of teachers simultaneously, the state could have deployed a limited number so that the remaining teachers could continue their regular teaching responsibilities.

During Tuesday's hearing in the case, Justice Krishna Rao had also expressed displeasure with the census authorities. After the hearing concluded on Wednesday, the court reserved its order.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh