Bengaluru: With just three days left for the Oct 7 deadline, Karnataka’s socio-educational survey — popularly known as the caste survey — has covered around 70% of the targeted 1.43 crore households across the state. While the govt is pushing to finish the exercise on time, enumerators on the ground say delays, refusals, and logistical hurdles make it unlikely the work will be completed without an extension.In Bengaluru, the exercise began only Saturday and is being carried out over three days. But enumerators admit they are struggling. “Many people are not ready with documents like Aadhaar, ration card and voter ID when we first visit them. We need to return several times until they are prepared,” an enumerator said, stressing that the process could have been far more efficient if the residents were informed in advance.A lack of awareness has emerged as a major stumbling block. According to the procedure laid down by the Backward Classes Commission, Bescom meter readers or designated staff must generate a Unique Household ID (UHID), geo-tag every property, and affix the ID on the house to help enumerators. Three days before the survey, ASHA workers are supposed to visit each household and distribute the questionnaire. However, in many rural pockets — particularly around Bengaluru — residents say these steps are skipped.“We were not at home when the Bescom reader came to our layout. So, he left without generating UHID and ASHA workers did not inform us. On Vijaya Dashami, the enumerator came to our home but left without conducting the survey as there was no UHID,” said Rathna H, a resident near Doddaballapur.Officials admitted that lapses in generating UHIDs and pre-survey communication have slowed the progress. Commissioner for Public Instruction, Trilok Chandra, said most enumerators are drawn from primary and secondary schools, with relatively fewer from high schools. Teachers’ associations acknowledged that the pace improved but pointed out persistent challenges.The associations’ representatives Basavaraj Guriker and Chandrashekar Nugli said the pace of the survey has improved in recent weeks but teachers continue to grapple with logistical and field-level challenges.Teachers detailed the difficulties of covering their assigned areas. A Hassan teacher said that while technical glitches in the survey app have been fixed, locating households still consumes much time. “The addresses given are scattered. Sometimes the next house is nearly 4km away,” a Chikkamagaluru teacher noted, adding that the earlier server slowdown has been resolved, allowing her to complete at least eight households a day out of her target of about 100.In coastal districts, mismatches in data have added to the problems. A Mangaluru teacher, commuting daily to Udupi explained, “UHID numbers often do not tally with house numbers. In some cases, residents said someone had already visited and conducted a similar survey.”Non-participation is another major hurdle. “Many families refuse. We take their signatures when they opt out, but this reduces our coverage. On average, I am able to complete only 4-5 households a day,” the teacher added.Backward classes welfare minister Shivaraj Sangappa Tangadagi maintained that progress is steady in most regions but slower in coastal areas. “Data collection has been better in most of Karnataka, but slowest in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada. This seems mainly because of reluctance among households to take part in the survey,” he said.As the deadline approaches, officials acknowledge that without better awareness, coordination and public participation, the survey may need additional time to reach the 100% mark.
