POPULATION-ARGENTINA: Gov’t Ministers to Fill In as Census-Takers

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 9 2001 (IPS) - The Argentine government announced Thursday that its ministers, state employees, military personnel and police will conduct the national census, slated to take place Nov 17-18, replacing the teachers who had been entrusted with the task but who now refuse because they are owed several months’ wages.

Interior Minister Ramón Mestre, after learning of the teachers’ decision, said the census “will be carried out by the armed forces, public employees and government ministers.”

“We are going to do it because it is a constitutional obligation,” he stated.

Argentina conducts a census every 10 years to gather information about the population, particularly its economic and social situation. Traditionally, some 500,000 teachers have served as census-takers in a process overseen by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC).

“I have rubber boots, so I am going to take part” in the census effort, said the minister of Labour, Employment and Human Resources, Patricia Bullrich, in a show of support for the government’s decision to go forward with survey.

Bullrich said she would appeal to representatives of non- governmental organisations and to university students throughout the country to help with the demographic poll.

President Fernando de la Rúa was quick to react to the decision taken by Argentina’s teachers Wednesday. “The census will not be cancelled. We will seek alternative means to carry out the task,” he said.

De la Rúa criticised the teachers, saying their refusal to participate was not hurting the government, but rather the entire country.

The current two-to-three month delay in paying the teachers, like the late payment of other government expenses, is a consequence of the “zero deficit” policy, which stipulates that expenditures will not go beyond the amount the government coffers take in.

But the nation’s economic crisis has meant a decline in tax revenues, such that public employees across the board are being paid late and suffering wage cuts.

On local radio talk shows, listeners called in after hearing news of the new census-takers, saying with sarcasm that the ministers should visit each household to explain the country’s economic and social problems face-to-face.

One caller suggested such conversations could take place on good terms, while others predicted there would be conflicts. Another caller predicted there would be plenty of Argentines who would not even open their doors to receive a minister serving as census-taker.

Marta Maffei, secretary-general of the Federation of Education Workers, said she thinks it is a good idea that the officials conduct the census. “They earn 20 times more than teachers do, and it would be good for them to have some contact with the reality of living in squatter settlements or in flooded towns,” she said.

But the head of public relations for INDEC, Noemí Muchnik, admitted that without the teachers it would be nearly impossible to conduct the survey in the allotted time. She gave no indication about the possibility of postponing it.

“We are all aware of the training our teachers have received. There can be no census without them,” said the official. She underscored the money lost in census training and in the manuals that have already been distributed.

“The military and the police were to have been mobilised for the security of the teachers. The armed forces cannot now be sent out to play the role of census-taker,” Muchnik said.

Sociologist Susana Torrado, an expert in demographics, commented that the teachers cannot be obligated to perform the public duty of conducting the census if they are not receiving their wages. But she said that the failure to complete the census would be “a disgrace” and result in “irreparable damage.”

According to recommendations from the United Nations, a census should be taken in every country in every year ending in zero, such as the year 2000, she said. The Argentine census has already been postponed a year, and with each passing month it will be increasingly difficult to compare its results with those of other countries.

Torrado pointed out that the month chosen for the census is also important. Ideally, it is held at a time when there is not heavy seasonal work in the country’s various provinces, which in Argentina means it should occur sometime in the spring months of September-December.

But there is apparently no way to reverse the stance of the teachers – who Muchnik says are the best trained in interview and data gathering techniques.

The Education Ministry this week could only issue a written promise to pay them, which was an acknowledgement of the government’s debts. However, the teachers point out that they cannot pay their bills with promises.

“The teachers in Buenos Aires protested at an assembly this week, saying that they are considered very qualified to serve as electoral officials, to work as census-takers, to handle programmes aimed at combating malnutrition and at providing vaccinations, but are not considered qualified enough to receive their paycheques on time and in full,” said union leader Maffei.

As a result, she said, at the assembly Wednesday, the teachers voted to refuse to participate in the census-taking process. “They pay is late and little for teaching. But we are going to continue teaching in spite of everything because it is the right of the people and because we defend public education. However, we are not going to collaborate in any other task,” Maffei stated.

The teachers have already staged numerous protests because of their unpaid back-wages and because part of their salaries were paid in vouchers. In the province of Entre Ríos, where teachers are owed three months’ wages, the government paid a portion of their yearly bonus with vouchers that were only redeemable at stores selling appliances, perfumes or leather goods.

“We have teachers who have had their electricity, gas and telephone services cut off, who cannot pay rent, or who have had their homes mortgaged for not paying their loans on time. How can we ask them to conduct a census when they no longer even have the coins necessary to pay for transportation?” wondered the union leader.

The teachers were to be paid 60 dollars each for serving as census-takers. But then the sum dropped to 50 dollars, and then to just 43 dollars, she said.

Most teachers throughout the country are owed at least two months’ wages. There are only three districts in which teachers have been paid in full, but in many cases they have been paid with vouchers that are not easily exchangeable.

Preparations for the census to be conducted this month began five years ago. The budget for the national survey is nearly 100 million dollars, but if it is postponed, another 15 million dollars would be added to the costs, say officials.