Odisha issues SOP for safety of census enumerators following incidents of attack

After incidents of attack on census enumerators in Odisha, the State government issued a standard operating procedures asking enumerators to skip specific houses if they face hostility and the left-out houses would later be covered with protection.

While the first phase of Census 2027— the House-listing and Housing Census, is currently underway in the State from April 16, 2026 and will continue until May 15, 2026, enumerators who are visiting households to collect data on housing conditions, household amenities, and assets, were chased away at some places.

In Kamakhyanagar area in Dhenkanal district, enumerators were physically assaulted and their vehicles were damaged. Subsequently, police had to intervene and arrested troublemakers. Similar incident was reported from Tangi area of Khordha district.