Raising serious concern over the large-scale deployment of teachers for Census-related duties, the Gazetted and Non-Gazetted SC/BC Employees Welfare Federation, Punjab (Kapurthala unit), led by district president Satwant Tura along with Manjeet Gatt, Lakhvir Chand and Balwinder Niddar, submitted a memorandum to SDM Phagwara Randhir Heer and Commissioner Dr Shikha Bhagat regarding the issue.The federation highlighted that under the ongoing Census and socio-economic survey operations, an overwhelming majority of duties—nearly 90 per cent—have been assigned to teachers from the Education Department. This, they warned, would leave government schools largely devoid of teaching staff, directly affecting the academic progress of students. The delegation emphasised that instead of burdening only teachers, employees from other departments should also be assigned these duties in a balanced manner.The delegation also raised several key concerns, including exemption for special cases such as couples posted together, widows, physically challenged employees and unmarried women employees. They further demanded that Census duties should not be conducted during school hours, suggesting that partial relaxation be granted so that both teaching work and census responsibilities can be managed without compromising students’ education.Expressing safety concerns, the federation pointed out that with rising temperatures, villages often become deserted after school hours, making it unsafe for teachers to conduct door-to-door surveys. They urged the administration not to compel teachers to visit households under such conditions without proper security arrangements.Additionally, the federation demanded that employees engaged in Census work should be covered under an insurance scheme of Rs 1 crore. They also recommended involving local panchayat members, ASHA workers and Anganwadi workers to assist in the Census process, as these individuals are more familiar with local households and demographics.The delegation further insisted that duties should be assigned according to employees’ status and referred to a directive issued by the Director of the School of Eminence, which exempts its teaching staff from non-academic duties. They urged authorities to extend similar relief to other teachers as well.Officials assured the delegation that their concerns were heard carefully and efforts would be made to minimise difficulties faced by teachers and staff.Speaking to the press, Satwant Tura stated that teachers are already working hard at the beginning of the new academic session to boost student enrolment in government schools. However, multiple additional responsibilities such as health card preparation, census duties and BLO assignments are putting undue pressure on them. He suggested that such tasks could also be outsourced to private agencies.A large number of federation members, including Vinod Kumar, Deepak Sehgal, Dinesh Kumar, Rampal, Pawan Kumar, Fazal, Ajay Kumar, Jasvir Lal, Gursewak, Ashok Wahad, Inderjit, Satnam Gill and Palwinder Singh, were present on the occasion.