Karnataka caste census: Panel prepares sixty survey questions to be posed to seven crore people
Bengaluru: With about 1,800 castes listed and 60 survey questions, the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes is gearing up to launch the socio-economic survey of the nearly 7 crore population from September 22.
In preparation for the massive exercise, household mapping is currently underway, and a handbook has been printed to aid in the training process. “We discussed having around 70 questions in the beginning, which has been brought down to about 60. The handbook has been printed for use in training teachers and master trainers,” The Hindu quoted Commission sources as saying.
The training for master trainers will commence on September 8, followed by training for nearly 1.6 lakh school teachers, who will serve as enumerators in the house-to-house survey, starting September 12.
The Energy Department, which is providing geo-tagged household data, has already completed more than 35% of the mapping, and has committed to delivering the full list of households by September 15.
Earlier, the Commission had published a provisional list of 1,400 castes and sub-castes, inviting objections from the public. In response, several communities reportedly submitted requests to add omitted names or alternate names/synonyms for their castes.
The commission had deliberately dropped the names of those castes that had less than 10 households from the published list of 1,400 castes, and a request had come to include them. “We are considering their requests. We expect the caste list to exceed just over 1,800 in the State at the start of the survey. We will also include the list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the final list,” The Hindu quoted Commission sources as saying.
Despite the scale of the upcoming door-to-door survey and concerns raised over limited preparation time, Commission officials remain confident. They mentioned that advanced technologies will be used to conduct the survey and monitor its functioning. “If a household is left out of the survey, it can be identified using geo-tagging. We will complete the survey on schedule,” they added.
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Tarique Rahman sworn in as new Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Dhaka (PTI): Tarique Rahman was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Bangladesh on Tuesday, days after leading his party to a forceful victory in the crucial general elections.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath of office to 60-year-old Rahman at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad instead of Bangabhaban, in a departure from a long-standing tradition.
Earlier in the day, Rahman was elected as leader of the parliamentary party by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmakers.
Rahman's BNP has bagged 209 out of 297 seats, while right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami secured 68 seats in the 13th Parliamentary elections. Deposed premier Sheikh Hasina's Awami League was barred from contesting polls.
