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Caste census: Linking of Aadhaar of all people aged above six being enumerated with survey made mandatory
The Karnataka government has set the ball rolling for the second socio-educational survey of the State's population to identify the status of the backward classes, with an order issued to this effect on Wednesday. Importantly, the linking of the Aadhaar of all people above the age of six being enumerated with the survey has been made mandatory.
Employing teachers
While the deployment of teachers for the enumeration work has become a bone of contention, with Minister for School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa voicing his opposition, the State government has asked officials, teachers, and others to work under the supervision of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes.
The survey, the order said, will be conducted digitally, and the required digital support will be given by the e-Governance Department.
On the lines of SC survey
One of the important aspects of the survey is linking Aadhaar of the individual above the age of six to the survey. A similar method had been implemented in the survey on Scheduled Castes population conducted by the H.N. Nagamohan Das Commission. The Aadhaar linkage is expected to make the survey more robust and accountable.
In the first survey conducted by the H. Kantharaj Commission in 2015, the Aadhaar of the persons had not been linked, and caste groups, which were opposed to the findings, attacked the survey as 'unscientific' and error-prone.
The government has asked the commission to utilise publicly available electoral rolls on the lines of the survey of Scheduled Castes.
The Congress government, in June, announced re-enumeration of caste data in Karnataka to address concerns of some communities who complained of being left out of the survey that was conducted 10 years ago.
