The Allahabad High Court held that employees of aided and unaided private educational institutions cannot be assigned duties under the Census Act, 1948, and stayed the DIOS Gautam Budh Nagar order seeking staff details for census work while directing the State to file response.
The Allahabad High Court has held that employees of both aided and unaided private educational institutions cannot be made responsible for any work required under the Census Act, 1948.
On the basis of this observation, the court stayed the order issued by the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Gautam Budh Nagar. Through that order, the DIOS had sought a list of all teaching and non-teaching staff employed across aided and unaided institutions for census-related purposes. The High Court further directed the State government to file a counter-affidavit within four weeks.
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Justice Siddharth Nandan noted,
“This Court prima facie finds that the teaching and non-teaching staff of private institutions, whether aided or unaided, cannot be said to fall within the purview of ‘local authorities,’ i.e., the B.S.A., D.I.O.S., and the D.P.R.O., who alone are required to provide their staff, as also contemplated in the letter dated 01.04.2026.”
He also added,
“Further, in view of the list forwarded by the B.S.A. to the Charge Officer pursuant to his letter dated 08.04.2026, the employees of aided and unaided institutions cannot be made liable for any task under the Census Act, 1948,”
The High Court was hearing a petition filed by the “Independent Self Financed Schools Association.” The association challenged the DIOS’s direction requiring the principals/management of all aided and unaided institutions to furnish a list of their teaching and non-teaching staff for census duty.
According to the petitioner, the staff of teaching institutions do not fall within the definition of “Local Authority” under Section 4A of the Census Act, 1948. That provision, the petitioner argued, requires only a local authority that has been directed to provide staff for census work. It was also contended that private institutions are not covered by the concept of local authority because they are not controlled by the government and are not its subsidiaries.
The court’s order passed on May 21 came to public attention on Monday.
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