Sheila Dikshit becomes first to be enumerated in caste-based survey

“It is important that these things are evaluated in India to find out which sections are weaker and in need of social justice. The census will help formulate processes in this direction as information will be gathered even at the micro-level,” Dikshit said.

In Delhi,the caste census is being conducted by the Revenue department with the technical and financial support of the Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation. As per the notification issued in Part IV of the Delhi Gazette dated January 14,“The Socio-Economic and Caste Census would be carried out by the respective state governments with the financial and technical support of the Government of India. In pursuance of this,the Government of NCT of Delhi declares that the Census shall be conducted in the NCT of Delhi from January 15,2012,to February 29,2012.”

The Directorate of Census Operations in Delhi has provided the Delhi government with the framework and the average list of houses ready with the Census office. The Census office is also overseeing the training for enumerators,close to 8,000 in number. Each enumerator is supposed to cover a block of 100 houses.

“Such an exercise has never been conducted before,so it is certainly a huge challenge. It is 100 per cent a survey,that is based on the Census frame but not covered by the Census Act,” Varsha Joshi,Director of Census Operations,Delhi,told Newsline.

As against school teachers doing the field work for the population Census,the Delhi government has appointed Anganwadi workers and people from Civil Defence as enumerators for the caste survey. Though the number of enumerators is a quarter of those who carried out the population Census,the Delhi government has decided to collect the data of an estimated 1.7 crore population within 44 days by giving tablet computers to the enumerators.

“The enumerators will have tablets with a pre-loaded survey form and the data collected would be compiled daily at the 182 designated charge centres located in government school buildings across of Delhi. This would also ensure that details of those already covered under Census 2011 can be updated,and there is no duplication of data,” a senior Delhi government official said.

The census form has two parts — one for residents of urban areas and the other for those living in rural areas. In the section on caste and tribes,the questionnaire includes a “no caste/tribe” option for those who do not wish to indicate their caste or belong to religions without a caste system.

The questionnaire for the urban area would pose questions about ownership of refrigerators,telephones,mobilephones,computers,laptops,motorised vehicles and washing machines. It also seeks details of property,assets,family members and ownership details,apart from questions on one’s education profile,nature of work and source of income. The survey would also establish socio-economic conditions of families through information on marital status.