BENGALURU:The temperature touched 35 degrees Celsius in Bengaluru on Saturday, but that did not deter enumerators who began work on the state government’s caste survey.
About one lakh enumerators, mostly school teachers and government staff, are conducting the first such survey in post-Independence India. They are expected to cover 1.33 crore families across Karnataka.
Kousar Taj (40), a school teacher, left home on Kanakapura Road at 8 am to reach Jayanagar 4th T Block. “I cooked lunch and finished all my work early. I have to complete 150 houses in Jayanagar 4th T Block before this month-end,” she said. She patiently explained 55 questions to people and took down their answers.
“I have done the 2011 population census. I can walk about without getting tired,” she said, smiling. Her colleague and teammate Shakuntala was equally enthusiastic, and wanted to complete as many houses as possible on the inaugural day. “Some people have gone to work, so we will be back on Sunday or Monday,” she said.
People answer questions quickly, but when enumerators seek Aadhaar and ration card details, they take some time.
Kousar and Shakuntala went to a grocery shop, run by senior citizen Sathyanarayana Setty, who offered them some buttermilk. They declined politely and moved on.
Some surprise questions relate to age of marriage, reasons for incomplete education and occupation-related health problems.
Shivalingappa, BBMP Revenue Inspector, was allotting areas to enumerators. “Each of them visits 120 to 150 houses in the next 20 days. Some even get 200 houses,” he said.
Now that the High Court has directed that the BBMP elections be conducted on or before May 30, revenue inspectors have poll duties also lined up. District ministers appealed to people to provide accurate information. Reports from across the state indicated the census went off well on Saturday.