MYSURU: With the government directing them to complete the socio-educational survey of households before April 30, the enumerators are racing against time. Reasons: Covering thousands of flats within the deadline and often encountering hurdles when it comes to seeking details of caste or income.
However, the authorities have deputed additional staff as it will be difficult to cover all houses in posh localities like V V Mohalla, Jayalakshmipuram, Yadavgiri, and on the outskirts of the city.
The enumerators usually start their work in the morning, fearing rising mercury levels. But now, they have to reach before 8 am to meet residents as many apartments have permitted them to visit only between 8 am and 10.30 am.
While a few apartments are reluctant to entertain them as many of the occupants are non-Karnataka residents, in other cases, the residents are reluctant to disclose their caste or annual income, fearing that they may be deprived of government benefits.
Fearing Social Backlash
An enumerator, who didn’t wish to be named, said that a few families didn’t want to reveal their original caste as they have lied to their landlord in this regard. These stray cases are among Dalits who have settled down in the city in rented houses. Rachaiah, a Dalit youth, said that fearing social backlash, some of them didn’t want to reveal their caste. So, they avoided the enumerators, maintaining that they had filled the form in their native village.
DSS activist Shambulingaswamy said that this problem exists in all towns and cities. He feared that not disclosing the caste would affect the allocation of grants, which is in proportion to the Dalit population.
Rathna, a teacher conducting the survey in V V Mohalla, said that while some people refused to disclose their caste, a couple of them insisted on writing casteless in the column. “Though the information they give is confidential, they are not ready to give accurate details.”
Additional Regional Commissioner M R Ravi said that the survey was yet to pick up pace and felt that much wider publicity would have helped. He said that there have been complaints of some people refusing to give the Aadhaar card number or other information.
When contacted, Mysuru city Commissioner Betsur Mutt said that 65 per cent of the households have been covered. He said that reserve enumerators have been allotted to conduct the survey of nomads, beggars and shelterless people living near bus and railway stations.