The Indian Express   06.09.2012

Denied tablets, BMC extends caste-based census deadline

Short of tablet PCs, BMC has pushed the deadline for completing the city’s caste-based census by four months.The first Socio Economic and Caste Census started in mid-August includes collecting data on tablets supplied by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).

Dr Arun Bamne, BMC’s executive health officer, said, “We have extended the deadline. Shortage of tablets and data entry operators is delaying the exercise.”

Only 2,600 of the 6,000 tablets needed for the census have been received and, corporation officials said, many of these had technical defects. “BHEL was to supply about 6,000 low-cost tablets, but it could supply only 50 per cent at the beginning of the project. This has slowed down the process,” said an official, adding that BHEL had also failed to provide sufficient number of data entry operators.

So far, 1,365 of the total 27,000 population blocks have been surveyed. An estimated 1.24 crore people are to be surveyed.The method is, as enumerators ask questions data entry operators make notes on PCs. They visit families in each block and add to the basic information preloaded on the tablets from National Population Register. Each family is first asked to verify the preloaded information and later posed a number of additional questions.

Through the caste-based census, which is being conducted for the first time since 1931, the government aims to determine which of India’s 250 million families will be eligible for a slew of anti-poverty subsidies — housing and electricity — and schemes - old-age pensions and health insurance. Most significantly, the census may become the basis to decide which families receive low-cost foodgrains.

Last year, BMC had conducted National Census 2011 covering over 27,500 house blocks. Apart from basic information such as name and age, it had collected details such as marital status, mother tongue, place of birth, work, education, caste and migration. The caste-based census is being condcted by the central government following pressure from OBC people’s representatives.