Telangana household survey: Govt bows to pressure, removes divisive questions

Hyderabad: The comprehensive household survey conducted across India’s 29th State, Telangana, proved to be a super hit on Tuesday, if one is to go by the words of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. It was, indeed, a big hit with people, for the survey avoided any contentious questions like details of nativity, bank accounts and property documents. No questions that amount to infringing on the personal space of people or intimidating them about a possible stoppage of benefits were asked by the surveyors. Life came to a grinding halt in Telangana on Tuesday with no service whatsoever functioning literally and roads wearing a deserted look. The survey questionnaire did not have Questions 21, 22 and 23 in ‘Division-I’ which were meant to deal with eliciting information on nativity. The special box with a headline specifically mentioning “the details of those who migrated from other states” was completely eliminated in the questionnaire. [caption id=“attachment_1671975” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  K Chandrashekar Rao’s family answers the questions in the survey: PTI[/caption] The questions published in the proforma released by the government earlier through social media and newspaper websites had included the three questions. (21. From which State have you come? 22. Language spoken, and 23. Year of migration). Plus, the surveyors were mostly students drawn from undergraduate classes to research scholars in various colleges and universities respectively, apart from employees drawn from various government departments. Almost as if they were trained in protocol and etiquette, the surveyors conducted themselves in the most affable manner possible, which frankly, stumped the people. Social media sites, Facebook and Twitter, were abuzz with accounts of survey experiences. Most apprehensions and misgivings of the people were dispelled once the interaction began. Surveyors themselves walked went the extra mile in verifying forms. They were working late into the night and even calling up people to elicit any information that had been missed out by the field surveyors. Some people treated the surveyors to breakfasts, beverages like coffee and tea, and some with lunches. Popular support and cooperation came forth as the surveyors explained that the targets could choose to avoid any question that was inconvenient to them. Though questions on religion, caste and social status – SC, ST, OBC, etc. – were customarily encapsulated as part of the questionnaire, the surveyors told the people that they could choose to skip the same. However, those deriving benefits from the government owing to their social grouping furnished the relevant information. Reports suggested that film actor Pawan Kalyan, a star campaigner for TDP and BJP during elections, and former MP Vijayashanthi declined to participate in the survey. With no proofs of mobile bills, or Aadhaar cards or copies of any documents being demanded by the surveyors, the people heaved a sigh of relief, as a large number of them could not keep photo copies ready. The surveyors did not even ask about ration cards. Commissioner of the GHMC Somesh Kumar said that the ration card details were left out with a definite intention of dispelling the misgivings of the people that the survey was intended at weeding out ration cards. While the statistical data is expected to be computed once the same is entered in about 15 days, there still are a few loose ends. Several colonies and people were not covered under the enumeration. At some places, the people in the colony were asked to form a queue and furnish the details as the surveyors positioned themselves at one place. The government will give a second chance to cover those who missed out, said the Chief Minister. The pre-survey visit by teams on August 17 and 18 indicated that the total number of households in the State Capital were far beyond initial estimates. While the official estimates based on property tax data pegged the total number at 16.96 lakh, the rough estimate put it at 19.31 lakh (an excess of 14 percent). Accordingly, the GHMC ordered 20 lakh survey forms. However, the pre-survey revealed that there are a whopping 25 lakh households in the GHMC area and the population could be around 1.20 crore. The estimated number of families across Telangana was 99,41,000, while 3.70 lakh enumerators were deployed for collecting the information. However, the Chief Minister expects that the actual information would outnumber the estimates. However, KCR’s remarks with a journalists that “we would know what a person is all about from the parameters incorporated in the questionnaire, though you may not be able to make out what it is,” left every one guessing.