The Social and Educational Survey, which was expected to begin within the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) limits on Friday after multiple delays, was once again called off. The survey will commence on Saturday, GBA Chief M. Maheshwar Rao said.
Explaining why the process was delayed, a senior official from one of the corporations told The Hindu that the first half of Friday had been set aside for enumerator training. However, many enumerators did not turn up citing that they were not given options to select their desired locations.
The survey was initially supposed to start in the second half of the day, but that time was instead used to finalise schedules and accommodate the enumerators’ location preferences.
“The enumerators argue that allowing them to work in their preferred locations will help improve efficiency and accuracy of the survey. Familiarity with the area would enable them to navigate more easily, engage better with respondents and complete data collection better. This, enumerators claim, would reduce logistical challenges and delays, ensuring that the survey can cover all allotted regions systematically. Hence now we have given them choices, and we are expecting to begin the survey on Saturday,” the official added.
Another official, however, claimed that enumerators had already been given 10 location choices, but many did not submit their preferences on time, which delayed the scheduling or allotment process. “Ten options were given, but out of all, only about 8,000 people had filled them. We could not generate or allot wards like that as it would have hampered the process. We have now instructed the rest to fill in the option forms,” the official added.
A total of 22,000 people were initially sent notices to participate in the survey. After exemptions for those who are terminally ill, in the retirement stage, pregnant or lactating women, at least 17,000 enumerators are expected to participate.
Speaking at a virtual meeting organised by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes on Friday, Mr. Rao said that surveyors drawn from various government departments have undergone two rounds of training at corporation level and have been instructed to complete the work swiftly.
The exercise will be supervised by commissioners of the five corporations under the GBA, with Additional, Joint, and Deputy Commissioners directed to actively participate in monitoring.
To ensure smooth execution, the government has appointed one senior KAS officer as nodal officer for each Assembly constituency. A total of 34 officers have been deployed to coordinate between surveyors and the government. One deputy supervisor will monitor every 15 to 20 surveyors, with each surveyor assigned to cover around 300 households, Mr. Rao added.
Published – October 03, 2025 09:22 pm IST
