H.N. Nagamohan Das.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

The commission headed by retired judge H.N. Nagamohan Das, which is overseeing a survey of Scheduled Castes (SC) families in the State to decide on internal reservation, is hoping that SC households in Bengaluru would come forward for voluntary enumeration online, which commenced on Monday. The door-to door enumeration in the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits has so far remained muted as less than 25% of the projected 3.54 lakh SC households in the city limits have been covered.

The online survey will be open till May 28, and it is mandatory for households to have Aadhaar and RD number of the caste certificate to take part in the survey. Besides online, special booth-level camps will be held between May 26 and 28 for the households to provide their details.

Commission sources said that during enumeration, many families that had hesitated to participate had informed the enumerators of their intention to participate in the survey online. “We have seen both households that stay at rented accommodation as well as own houses being hesitant to take part in the door-to-door survey. We are hopeful that those people would take part in online survey since awareness had been created among them.”

The commission is hopeful of covering at least 70% of the SC households in Bengaluru by the end of the survey, sources said.

According to commission sources, by the end of Monday, nearly 81,000 households or about 23% of about 3.54 lakh households have been counted. On Monday, of about 1.2 lakh households whom enumerators met in Bengaluru, 5,780 were SC households. Across Karnataka, of the projected 25.72 lakh SC household families, enumerators have so far covered nearly 22.79 lakh households or about 86.6% by the end of Monday. So far, enumerators across the State have reached out to 1.28 crore households during the survey.

Sources said that the enumerators have also come across cases where migrant SC households have been covered under the survey in their respective villages. “Though their numbers are not big, the use of Aadhaar and RD number in the survey is preventing duplication.”

Sources said that they were hoping that working couples, who have missed enumeration, those travelling, and those who refused to participate in the physical survey but promised to do online would use the online platform.

Meanwhile, the commission has asked the civic agency in Bengaluru to deploy more enumerators in slums and areas where economically weaker sections are in large numbers.