On Sunday morning Manappa P. (changed name) began his day at 11 am and went to carry out a social and educational survey in BhuvaShwari Nagar in Dasarahalli. Mr. Manappa, the Bescom Metrer reader, was assigned as an enumerator, was in the streets for more than 90 minutes before one household finally agreed to answer and cooperate on an ongoing survey that lasted almost an hour.
His experience was not unusual. Within the five limits of the Bengalur corporation, the survey, which began on October 4 at the Greater Bengalurur (GBA) limits, is slowly running due to public hesitation, unwillingness and technical defects.
The allocation stated that although no official goal is set for them, they were clearly instructed to complete up to 15 surveys per day. “The public refuses to cooperate. Some do not even open the door after they have seen us. With this kind of cooperation, even the completion of three or four surveys is a great success,” Mr. Manappa said.
No training, no resources
For this survey, the state government has ranked enumerators from multiple government authorities who claim that they did not receive half an hour of training before sending in the field and let them come up with this process themselves.
Hemanth K., another enumerator, asked the household for their district and did not appear in the application. When he applied for a caste, the same problem arose. The details had to be browsed and could not be searched directly.
“The brochure containing a caste, partial caste, district codes and other details should be provided, but we did not receive it. We noted the codes when we found them so that when another household from the same caste or district appeared, we could enter directly instead of navigating through the application.”
Households examined by society
Central Corporation: 14 288
East Corporation: 17 269
North Corporation: 31 363
South Corporation: 16 445
West Corporation: 40 112
Total: 1,19 447
From October 4, more than 1.19 Lakh households have been examined within the GBA. 5th October was examined 95,024 households.
In some cases, the inhabitants themselves tried to help Enumerators control videos on YouTube, while some saw newspapers that published some of these details such as caste code.
Enumerators also said that the survey application was crashed, and sometimes the devices they own have also crashed. Each household required several verification steps, including Aadhaar and OTP generation for each member. Although the application seemed to work, the forms could sometimes not be saved, which forced them to re -enter the information.
Lack of cooperation
The lack of cooperation from the population was common, especially in housing complexes. Many households have said that since they remain on rent, they do not provide information themselves and that the owner should give it instead. Others said they saw on the social media that the enumerations would apply for bank details or information associated with Aadhaar, which did not want to share their information.
“There are no such questions that could give access to personal or financial data. We only ask whether people have a bank account and their Aadhaar number to verify further details,” Mr. Manappa said.
An enumerator interacting with the inhabitants during the ongoing social and educational survey in Sunday BhuvaSwari Nagar in Bengalur on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Allen Egenus J.
Long survey
Even if the inhabitants participated, some of them wondered whether there was a matter of certain questions in the survey, such as whether a member of the household knew how to use a computer or had access to the Internet. “Why do they need to know that? It’s unnecessary and general.” Several people who were interviewed felt that such questions were added to length and made it difficult for people to stay patient and cooperate.
Others, however, claimed that these details were important to get an accurate picture of the city demography. “Understanding access to technology and similar indicators helps to plan educational and social programs more effectively. If the survey is to lead to progress, this details cannot be skipped,” said Pawan Swamy, resident Vasanth Nagar, adding that the survey would beat his purpose too much.
The inhabitants also believe that the government was supposed to inform them in advance when the list arrived. They said it would save time for both residents and enumerators and allow everyone to have all the necessary documents ready. Someone in the home was often gone and required repeated challenges for Aadhaar OTP, which was tiring. Many of them felt that sending bulk messages with plans or letting residents choose comfortable time slots would be much more likely to be a survey for everyone.
Divided into location
Officials told the Hindes that some of the listeners from the education department have raised concerns that could not be adapted. One teacher whose school is in Hegde Nagar asked to be assigned to the nearby area instead of his assigned department in Dasarahali, just five km away.
Officials described this as an impractical application and noted that the survey areas are assigned to maps and cannot be changed. However, the teacher described the process of assigning as unfair and said he did not know herself in this area and only made the work more difficult.
Published – 5th October 2025 9:02
