Teachers deployed as enumerators and supervisors for the proposed census-related exercise are increasingly finding themselves caught between administrative directives and mounting opposition, with several teachers interviewed by Imphal Times requesting anonymity for fear of repercussions.
The situation escalated today with protests and disruptions reported at educational institutions, including Moirang College, where a student wing reportedly staged a protest against the census-related exercise. The development followed an earlier disruption at SK College, where activists allegedly interfered with the training of supervisors and enumerators and vandalism was reported.
Meanwhile, police reportedly arrested some JFD members at around 10 am today in connection with the ongoing protests. The arrests have further intensified the dispute surrounding the proposed exercise.
According to teachers interviewed by Imphal Times, the district administration has directed enumerators and supervisors to perform the duties assigned to them and has reportedly warned that failure to comply could attract accountability and penal action under relevant provisions of law, including the Census Act. At the same time, activists associated with the JFD have urged enumerators and supervisors not to participate in the exercise and have warned of consequences if they proceed.
Several teachers said they were now placed in an extremely difficult position despite having no role in deciding whether the census-related exercise should be conducted, postponed or cancelled.
“We are government employees assigned a duty. We did not decide that this exercise should be conducted,” one teacher said, requesting anonymity.
Another teacher said employees were being forced to choose between complying with an official order and facing possible confrontation from those opposing the exercise.
Teachers pointed out that they do not formulate government policy or determine the timing and manner of a census-related exercise. Their role, they said, is confined to carrying out duties assigned by the competent authorities.
The reported disruption at SK College and the protest at Moirang College have heightened concerns among teachers who are required to attend training programmes or undertake field duties. They said government employees should not have to fear intimidation, confrontation or disruption merely for reporting for an officially assigned duty.
The teachers also expressed concern over the reported arrests of JFD members, saying the continuing confrontation could further complicate the situation for personnel deployed for the exercise.
At the same time, they said the administration cannot simply issue orders and warnings and leave individual employees to deal with the consequences on the ground.
“If the government insists that the exercise must proceed, it should also ensure the safety and protection of those assigned to implement it,” another teacher said.
The teachers further questioned whether individual enumerators and supervisors could reasonably be held responsible if they are unable to perform their duties because of protests, obstruction, intimidation or security threats beyond their control.
They maintained that an employee who reports for duty but is prevented from carrying it out because of circumstances beyond his or her control should not automatically be treated as having wilfully refused to perform the assigned duty.
The controversy has also brought into focus the distinction between opposing a government decision and targeting the employees tasked with implementing it.
Teachers said those opposed to the exercise have every right to question the government’s decision through peaceful protests, representations, engagement with elected representatives and legal remedies. However, they said the primary target of such opposition should be the authorities responsible for deciding and implementing the exercise, rather than individual enumerators and supervisors.
The teachers stressed that their concern was not to take a position either in favour of or against the proposed exercise.
“We have no authority to decide whether the exercise should be conducted. If there is an objection, the demand should be addressed to those who have the authority to stop or modify it,” a teacher said.
They also appealed to groups opposing the exercise to distinguish between challenging an administrative decision and putting pressure on government employees carrying out assigned duties.
The developments at SK College and Moirang College, along with the reported arrests of JFD members, have underscored the potential for the dispute to escalate if no mechanism is found to address the concerns of both sides.
If the administration decides to continue with the exercise, teachers said it must accept responsibility for its implementation, including providing adequate security and institutional protection to enumerators and supervisors.
Conversely, if the exercise is to be halted or modified, that decision must come from the competent authorities rather than being left to individual teachers to determine through refusal of assigned duties.
For the teachers caught between administrative orders and protest pressure, the central concern remains that they should not be made to bear the consequences of a policy dispute over which they have no decision-making authority.
