Census drive: 2 taluks raise complaints on caste factor

With just three days for the second phase of census drive to end,two taluks in the district have put up opposition to its caste factor.

With just three days for the second phase of census drive to end,two taluks in the district have put up opposition to its caste factor. Census authorities,who have received complaints from Shirur and Indapur taluks,are trying to convince the villagers that the drive will cover only religion and the caste aspect will be covered only in the June drive.

We have received complaints from both the taluks; people in large numbers have opposed enumerators asking them their caste. The enumerators would leave the column blank,but we are talking to the villagers, an official said. With nearly 44 lakh voters in rural parts of the district,the enumerators claim to have covered 60 per cent of the population,with each of them meeting the target of visiting 180-200 homes.

Though no official complaints have been registered,enumerators said they did face difficulties at many places with people not in their houses even after repeated messages. It was tiring and we had to rope in the village head to ensure that it goes well, another official said.

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The drive,involving 8,481 enumerators,covers 14 taluks of the district. The second phase,being undertaken from February 1 to 28,has enumerators collecting data from each household as per the data prepared during the house-listing drive in May.

They will revise the list in the first week of March and submit the final list to the state government on March 6.

The district is expected to record a 25 per cent rise in population from 72.67 lakh registered in the last census. The drive will see the entire population,including foreigners,being covered. The government is also planning a repository of information that will also help it issue a unique identification number to every individual.

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