Mysuru: Chamarajanagar district, known for its rugged terrain, poor mobile connectivity, and large tribal population, has emerged as the top-performing district in the ongoing Social and Educational Survey, popularly known as the caste census.As per the data released on Tuesday evening, the district achieved 98.1% household coverage. District officials said that Yelandur taluk led the progress with an achievement of 101.7%, followed by Hanur taluk with 101.1%. The census target in the district was around 2.6 lakh households spread across five taluks.According to the authorities, to overcome network challenges in remote and forest-surrounded villages, which is one of the common complaints from the field staff across the state, the district administration set up 94 specialised camps in govt buildings like ashrama schools and panchayat buildings.Good network facility arranged at camps“Several human settlements in the hills and forest areas have weak or no mobile network coverage where it is tough to generate OTPs and make online entries. To ensure this did not hinder the census process, we established special camps where network coverage is good to ensure that locals could complete the process easily,” they explained.These camps facilitated smooth OTP generation and data uploading, while panchayat development officers (PDOs) and village accountants are now carrying out door-to-door verification to ensure no family was left out. A dedicated helpline was also launched to address citizens’ grievances and queries, further enhancing transparency and public trust, explained DC Shilpa Nag.“The success was the result of fine coordination among various departments. The entire process saw zero disciplinary actions, a reflection of the self-motivation and commitment of officials, field staff, and all the stakeholders,” she said.Officials also said that the response from rural areas was better compared to urban pockets. In cases of confusion or doubt, senior officers, including tahsildars, personally visited families to provide clarifications.
