Pune Census Crisis: FIRs Likely Against 800 PMC Employees Over Absenteeism
Pune, 27th May 2026: The census operation in Pune city has come under serious strain, with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) preparing to initiate criminal proceedings against nearly 800 employees for allegedly refusing to participate in census-related duties.
According to PMC officials, the census work is progressing at a slow pace across several regional offices, with less than 50 per cent of the assigned work completed in many areas. Despite repeated instructions, review meetings, and official orders issued at the commissioner level, a large number of enumerators and supervisors have reportedly remained absent from duty.
The civic administration has now decided to take strict action against employees found negligent in carrying out census responsibilities. The affected ward offices include Nagar Road, Yerawada-Wagholi, Dhole Patil Road, Aundh-Baner, and Sinhagad Road, where the progress of the census work has been particularly poor.
Officials said that employees from these regional offices account for the majority of absentees. As repeated warnings failed to improve attendance, the administration has initiated the process of filing police complaints against the concerned staff members under Section 11 of the Census Act, 1948.
PMC sources said complaint applications are currently being prepared and that employees will be given a final opportunity to resume work before criminal cases are formally registered.
For the census exercise, employees from various government departments had been assigned duties as enumerators and supervisors. However, continuous absenteeism has significantly affected the progress of the nationwide exercise in the city.
PMC Additional Commissioner Omprakash Divte said that census work is a national duty and negligence in such an important exercise would not be tolerated.
Meanwhile, the Sinhagad Road ward office has taken the most aggressive stance in the matter. A total of 1,174 census blocks have been identified in the jurisdiction, for which 1,174 enumerators and 192 supervisors were appointed. However, many employees reportedly remained absent despite official deployment orders.
Following this, Assistant Commissioner Vijaykumar Waghmode has initiated action against the absentee staff members.
