Karnataka to collect Scheduled Caste data for socio-economic mapping: Report
In a large-scale effort to map the socio-economic and educational status of Scheduled Castes (SCs) in Karnataka, around 60,000 enumerators will begin a door-to-door survey starting Monday, May 5, continuing until May 17, The Hindu reported. The survey aims to identify SC households and their sub-castes, forming part of the work assigned to a commission headed by retired High Court judge HN Nagamohan Das. This initiative follows the caste census conducted in 2015, which estimated the SC population in the state at 1.09 crore, accounting for approximately 18.2% of the total population.
According to the report, each field-level enumerator is expected to cover about 130 houses during the 13-day exercise. Data will be collected using a specially developed mobile application. Enumerators will visit each assigned unit between 6 am and 6 pm daily. To maintain the integrity of the process, the app will automatically lock outside of these hours. "The survey will be conducted between 6 am and 6 pm and the mobile application will be automatically locked after that to avoid any foul play," Nagamohan told The Hindu.
Enumerators have been instructed to physically knock on every door, take a photograph of the individual providing information, and obtain their signature, the report added. “We have instructed the enumerators to knock on every door and click the photograph of the person who shares the information and also take a signature. The data collected will be connected to a central server and will be securely coded. We have deployed 6,000 panchayat development officials (PDOs) as supervisors, who will conduct random inspections of households to verify and confirm the visit,” Nagamohan said.
It further said that a central war room has been set up to monitor the survey and provide real-time support to enumerators in the field. An exclusive helpline and email support system have also been arranged. School teachers and Anganwadi workers, who are being deployed as enumerators, have undergone adequate training for this purpose. “A handbook on how to conduct the survey and use the mobile application has been provided to the field-level enumerators. However, instant support is provided if they get any doubts or encounter problems on the field,” he explained.
Training for state-level master trainers at district and taluk levels has already been completed, while field-level enumerators and supervisors have been undergoing training over the last three days. The questionnaire embedded in the mobile application includes columns for caste, sub-caste, relationship between family members, profession, educational qualification, employment details, and other related data.
The report also said that, to ensure accuracy, enumerators have been trained to verify caste declarations using supporting documents such as caste certificates, ration cards, Aadhaar cards, or voter identity cards. Nagamohan said, “The mobile application has been designed in a manner that will show up all details of the person just by entering the numbers of one of these documents. This is possible as the documents would have been linked to get the benefits of the government’s guarantee schemes.”
For those who are not available during the door-to-door survey, a three-day camp will be conducted from May 19 to 21 in panchayat offices, schools, or other public buildings where people can voluntarily declare their caste details. In addition, an online option will be available from May 19 to 23 to ensure wider coverage. “This is to ensure all are covered. The process of online entry will be provided on May 19 to avoid any duplicate entries,” Nagamohan said.
The commission expects no delay in analysing the data and submitting its report. “As all entries will be in the digital format, we will compile and analyse it immediately. We are taking help from IT experts too and the report will be finalised on a war footing approach and submitted to the government,” Nagamohan said.