BENGALURU: Authenticity is going to be a challenge for the ongoing Scheduled Caste (SC) internal quota survey with some leaders of the community questioning its conduct.
Apart from technical glitches early on, there are allegations that some enumerators lack in training and enthusiasm.
A hurried job would reduce the Justice H N Nagamohan Das Commission to the fate of the Socio Economic Educational Survey (SES-2015) by Backward Classes Commission, which some communities dubbed unscientific, according to certain SC communities’ leaders.
The leadership of SC left and SC right communities has questioned how mere self-declaration would lead to credibility in the absence of caste certificates.
They fear that considerable number of non-SCs would enumerate themselves falsely as ‘beda jangama’ and it would change the caste equation.
During the 2001 census ‘beda jangama’ number was about 4,000 across the state and restricted to four or five districts, that grew to 54,000 in 2011 and in the SES-2015 it was around 4.4 lakh.
“Over a period of time thousands have taken false caste certificates as ‘beda jangama’ and if their number increased further in the Das commission report it would add to the mess”, said C Bhanuprakash, a DSS leader.
He also raised the issue of lack of training for enumerators and lack of Android cellphones. He alleged that they were conducting the survey in a jiffy.
Some activists have also raised the issue of the government spending Rs 100 crore for the survey but not fixing the remuneration for enumerators.
Social Welfare Department Commissioner Dr K Rakesh Kumar told TNIE that he has received several complaints by the communities’ leaders.
“We will bring the issue of rise in the population of ‘Beda Jangama’ to the notice of the commission,” he said.
On the issue of teachers and anganwadi workers conducting the survey without seeking replies of the SC families for all the 42 questions in the questionnaire, he clarified that the enumerators while conducting the survey online cannot leave any of the spaces blank.
“If they have done it offline, at the places where the network connectivity is an issue, we will send them back and action will be taken”, he said.
In places where there is an issue of network the enumerators are allowed to do it offline and upload the data later, he added. The government will soon resolve the issue of remuneration for them which includes cell phones, he said.
Justice Das speaking to TNIE said that just by self declaration as ‘beda jangama’ no one would be entitled to caste certificates as the revenue department has to authenticate it.
“The census will be finished by May 23 as 50 per cent of the SC families, 12 lakh, are already covered,” he said. In urban areas such as Bengaluru, more enumerators will visit areas where there is high density of SC population, he added.
The BBMP has been asked to take action in this regard and set up a control room, he added. The government has asked the commission to submit its report in 60 days after the completion of enumeration.