Millions of households surveyed in one day; CM says needed correct data to ensure benefits of welfare schemes reach deserving people
History of sorts was created in Telangana on Tuesday with the Government conducting the biggest-ever intensive household survey on a single day and collecting data of each and every household in all the ten districts.
Brushing aside the criticism by the Opposition and allegations that it is aimed at singling out people from Andhra Pradesh living in Hyderabad, the TRS Government embarked on the massive exercise.
In New Delhi, a senior Home Ministry official said the Central Government was seized of the matter and keeping a close eye on the situation arising out of the survey that has raised suspicion among the people of Seemandhra origin. “Appropriate intervention will be made by the Home Ministry at an appropriate time, if necessary,” the official said.
Meanwhile, Greater Hyderabad, the State Capital with a population of 12-million, wore a deserted look as normally busy and congested roads were empty. With just a few people and fewer vehicles on the roads, with shops, restaurants and hotels closed, a curfew-like situation prevailed. Right from the old city around Charminar to the Hitec City, the hub of information technology, all the busy centres were silent.
It is for the first time in the country that such a survey has been conducted on a single day to do away with the possibility of any manipulation and distortion of data. An estimated 4,00,000 enumerators, including Govern-ment employees, teachers, policemen and other volunteers began the house-to-house survey in Hyderabad and other districts early in the morning.
The survey ended at 7 p.m. in the districts, but the work continued till late in the night in Hyderabad. In a determined bid to make this effort at collecting the correct data of all households successful, the Telangana Government announced a holiday to enable people to take part in the survey. Apart from Government offices and educational institutions, all other establishments like banks, petrol pumps, cinema halls, shops and markets remained closed.
With buses, taxis and auto rickshaws off the roads, people coming from outside faced a lot of difficulties. Though trains and flights were operating, it was not easy for passengers to reach railway stations and airports.So massive was the build-up to the survey that an estimated two million people left Hyderabad for their native places in order to be available to the enumerators. The Government’s clarification that they could give information wherever they were, came a bit late.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao also participated in the survey and provided details of his family, assets and bank accounts. His Cabinet colleagues, Chief Secretary, State police chief and other officials also participated in the exercise.“The survey is not against anybody but it is only to develop a correct data base to ensure that the benefits of welfare schemes reach the deserving people”, KCR said.
The Chief Minister told a news conference in the evening that the data would be compiled and computerized in 10 to 15 days and will be available from his office down to the office of a gram panchayat or a village. Another senior Minister T Harish Rao, who was in Siddipet to register his family said: “All future welfare programs will be based on the data of this survey. It has given a new hope to the people. Only some vested interests were opposing the survey,” he said.
The survey form that was in three languages, Telugu, Urdu and English, sought personal information like number of family members, name, age, education, house details, electricity, water and gas connection, employment status, details of properties. It also had optional questions like Income-Tax details, bank or post office accounts. Contrary to speculations in some circles that the survey was aimed at targeting people from Andhra Pradesh living in Hyderabad, the survey form had no nativity column.
Though each family had to fill three pages, the survey was done at a brisk pace and half of the work was over by 2 pm. Officials said they faced some challenges at various places like shortage of printed forms and presence of more households than earlier expected. Though official records at present show that the State has nearly ten million households, the Telangana Government says that this is incorrect and the real number is around 8.4 million.
In the old city of Hyderabad, some areas witnessed slow progress as there was confusion regarding the house numbers. Also, there were communication problems as the majority of the population is Urdu speaking, and those enumerators who spoke only Telugu faced a lot of problems. In Mahbubnagar district five revenue inspectors were suspended for not giving correct numbers to the houses, which created problems in the survey. In addition to commercial, business and educational establishments, even religious institutions were affected by the survey.
All the major temples were deserted as people preferred to stay at home and few worshippers turned up at the famous Yadagirigutta, Vemulawada, Dharmapuri, Chilkur and Saraswati temples. Except for the morning prayers by the pandits, no activity was seen at the temples. Consequently the collection of contribution and gifts from the pilgrims was also very low.