Telangana govt’s caste survey gets mixed bag of reaction from Hyderabad residents

Hyderabad: The enumerators are getting mixed reactions from the residents as the Telangana government began its comprehensive household caste survey on Saturday. The survey has been designed to assess the citizens’ social, financial, educational, employment, political, and caste details.

However, the enumerators are experiencing a mixed bag of reactions. They are receiving both cooperation and resistance while going door-to-door to collect data from the residents of Hyderabad.

There are 20,920 enumerators and 1,728 supervisors to survey 29,58,277 households in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.

Earlier, the enumerators went door-to-door and pasted stickers about the survey on the doors. The actual survey commenced on November 9 and will conclude on December 8.

When the enumerators began gathering information, some residents refused to provide full details, citing privacy concerns. They also expressed frustration with the questions, as some viewed them as intrusive. The residents have expressed their reservations with some of the survey’s questions, which span 75 categories and include details on household assets, finances, bank accounts, land ownership, and loans.

“Why do you need to know about our properties? What benefit will we get by sharing this information?” enumerators encountered these questions from residents during the exercise in areas like Musheerabad.

Some people went so far as to tear down the stickers placed on their homes, while others simply refused to open their gates. In other places, residents wanted to know the outcome of their Praja Palana programme applications they had submitted early this year. The government-appointed Asha workers for the exercise also faced questions about the Six Guarantees promised by the Congress during campaigning for the 2023 Assembly elections.

The enumerators also faced logistical issues, such as delayed delivery of survey forms and difficulty locating some addresses. The lengthy survey format, with intricate coding requirements, added further complexity.