Bengaluru, Sep 12 (IANS) The Karnataka government has announced that a comprehensive Socio-Economic and Educational survey, popularly known as the caste survey, will be held between September 22 and October 7, during the Dusshera holidays.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday made an appeal to all citizens of Karnataka to actively participate in the comprehensive survey, scheduled.

The Chief Minister made the announcement while addressing a press conference at the official residence, ‘Krishna’.

“The Social and Educational Survey will be conducted in the state by the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission from September 22 to October 7. Around 1.75 lakh teachers will be deployed for this task. They will be provided an honorarium of up to Rs 20,000. The cost of teacher honorariums will be around Rs 325 crore,” CM Siddaramaiah stated.

“An initial budget of Rs 420 crore has been allocated for the survey. Additional funds will be provided if necessary,” he stated.

“We know that special efforts are necessary to eradicate backwardness, poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy. In this context, under the chairmanship of Madhusudhan Naik, the commission will conduct the survey to understand the social and educational status of the seven crore people in the state,” CM Siddaramaiah stated.

He further stated, “The survey must be conducted very carefully, covering every individual, and the report should be submitted to the government by December. During the Dusshera holidays, the services of teachers will be used for the survey.

The survey must be carried out scientifically and without any flaws. It must be completed within the stipulated period, and the report submitted on time, he stated.

“In 2015, the commission’s chairman, Kantaraj, had submitted a report. Since 10 years have passed since that report, it was decided to conduct a new survey, and the responsibility has now been handed over to the permanent Backward Classes Commission. There are many castes in society, and inequalities still exist due to differences. The Constitution provides equal opportunities to all. It states that social justice should be provided to everyone. As Dr Ambedkar said when the Constitution came into effect on January 26, 1950, we were stepping into a society full of disparities,” he opined.

Ambedkar had emphasised that if our Independence is to be successful and democracy is to survive, we must eliminate inequality, he underlined.

“Even after so many years of independence, we have not been able to completely eliminate inequality. With the aim of ensuring equality and providing equal opportunities, we have undertaken the social and educational survey. The state has a population of about seven crore and approximately two crore families. Providing equal opportunities to all is our duty,” CM Siddaramaiah stated.

Only by knowing the social, educational, political, and economic status of every individual can welfare programmes be implemented effectively. Only accurate data allows for effective implementation of programmes, he said.

“We have tried to reduce inequality to some extent through various guarantee schemes. During our previous tenure, we also tried to achieve this through schemes like Bhagya,” he maintained.

“Justice Nagamohan Das stated that the survey will use special technology, similar to the internal reservation survey. Each household will be geo-tagged based on its electricity meter, and a special UHID (Unique Household ID) number will be recorded. So far, numbers have already been assigned to 1.55 lakh households. Surveys will also be conducted in homes without electricity connections,” the CM stated.

During the survey, ration cards and Aadhaar cards will be linked to the mobile number of the household, he stated.

Everyone must participate in the survey. No one should be excluded. The survey will include 60 questions, and all individuals must provide accurate responses. Only correct information will allow for a scientific survey, he stated.

The commission’s helpline number is 8050770004, where the public can call to lodge any complaints or obtain information about the survey. There is also an option to participate online, he said.

Before the survey begins, ASHA workers will visit every household and provide a sample of the survey form. This will help raise awareness about providing accurate information. Each teacher will be assigned a coverage area of 120 to 150 houses, the Chief Minister said.

The Chief Minister reiterated his appeal, stating that accurate information from every household is essential for the government to formulate policies that ensure a just and equal society for all.

–IANS

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