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Exclude Bangladeshis from census: Karimganj DC

By Correspondent - 15 Sep 2010 12:00 AM GMT

BADARPUR, May 5 - The Deputy Commissioner of Karimganj, Dr M Angamuthu has instructed all the enumerators of the district to take extreme care and ensure that names of suspected Bangladeshis are not included in the census report.

The DC said so while addressing the enumerators recently at a function organised at the Karimganj District Library. Instructing the enumerators on how best to go about their job, along with the technicalities involved, he also briefed them about the questions to be asked, especially in the border areas. He advised them to take help from the BSF personnel, if they deemed it necessary. The DC added that those manning the border posts had been alerted in this connection, besides instructing the uniformed personnel to thwart any attempt by Bangladeshis to infiltrate into the region.

In the meantime, the ADC present at the function had a tough time just after the meeting was over as he was gheraoed by the personnel deployed on census duty. Demanding immediate redressal of their grievances, they claimed that the district administration had exerted tremendous pressure on them for completing all the census work latest by May 10, which they felt was not possible under any circumstances as necessary documents related to the mega exercise was yet to be supplied to them by the authority concerned.

Apprising the ADC about the nature of their problems, the census personnel mentioned about non-availability of house-listing forms, correct area-wise maps to help them in the enumeration process, threat to life, lack of timely inputs, remotely located areas for census operation, and so on. They alleged that the maps supplied to them by the district administration were full of flaws and did not tally with the ground realities. Facing threats from a section of people in certain pockets, this scribe was told by the enumerators that they were asked to complete their allotted jobs within May 10 after attending to their daily school duties, which was illogical. Under the circumstances, they could operate only before 10 am and after 5 pm, i.e., after performance of their daily official duties.

Most of the locations for census operations were atleast 30 to 40 kms away from the respective schools where the teachers under reference served, this scribe was told. Hence, it would be very difficult to deliver at the practical level, they justified, while the pupils would invariably suffer for no fault of theirs. However, despite lending a patient ear to the enumerators� problems, the ADC expressed his helplessness to redress their grievances as it was an order from the Central Government.

Meanwhile, the district unit of BJP has expressed serious apprehension over �Column No. 15� in the allotted census format and submitted a memorandum to the authority concerned in this connection. The party alleged that the space earmarked for recording ST and SC was left untouched by the enumerators. They therefore sought an early remedy in the matter.