NEW DELHI: The socio-economic survey of households initiated by the Delhi government in November last year is now facing hurdles due to lack of manpower. The planning department has to send a proposal to the cabinet requesting a change in conditions of hiring surveyors, currently, there are only 2,000 against the minimum requirement of 8,000.
One of the biggest surveys to be conducted in Delhi, it commenced on ground November 10 last year, after the initial cold start the survey picked pace in mid-February with daily entries reaching up to 10,000 to 12,000.
The entries are made by the surveyors, who have a target based contract system with the government. “Lack of sufficient manpower is really the biggest challenge that is being faced by this unique exercise. We are planning to rope in volunteers who are working for organizations like ASHA and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). This we hope will boost our strength,” said a high ranking official aware of the development. Each surveyor, as a basic outline has the target to cover 10 households per day, for each individual entry they earn Rs 25.
Surveyors have to download a mobile application from the government website onto their gadgets which has a form with 60 different indicators on the basis of which questions are asked to the individuals about their health, wealth, education and lifestyle. “Our target is to cover at least one-third of the population, which will need a lot of resources. The problem is that the volunteers we have recruited need time to understand the application and have to undergo training from officials about the questions. Furthermore, the attitude of residents is not positive and has slowed down the pace,” added the official.
The data that is being collected goes to the National Informatics Centre website in order to secure sensitive details. The surveyors are not allowed to store and extract the information once submitted into the portal. For the functioning of the application and management of the staff, a private company has been hired by the government.
The survey was introduced in the capital after three sisters — aged eight, four and two years died in East Delhi’s Mandawali area because of malnutrition last year.