Census staff use shortcuts, but tahsildar unfazed

Enumerators in Bantwal of Dakshina Kannada district have found a shortcut for the caste census. They have been asking people to write down the details on photocopies of the forms. But tahsildar Purandar Hedge, who is the census incharge officer, has justified the method followed by the enumerators.

The caste census staff, who visited Janata Colony in Hoigegudde, Kanyana in the taluk four days ago, have distributed the photocopies of forms and have asked people to fill in the required details. They have collected the signatures of residents on the original unfilled forms, said Sundari of Adivasi Koraga Sangha. She said that there are around 40 houses in the SC/ST colony and most of the residents are uneducated.

The enumerators have asked them to keep the photocopies of forms ready by Monday. She said that the enumerators told them that it was difficult for them to cover many houses in the given time and that they would enter the details in the original forms later.
When contacted, Hegde said that there was nothing wrong in collecting signatures on blank forms.

Same either way
“It is the same either way, if the enumerators take down the details or ask the residents to write the details on photocopies. One cannot change the facts such as age and income,” he said. On signatures being taken on blank forms, he said the enumerators cannot tamper with the information anyway. If the residents do not know the details, they can leave the columns blank, so that enumerators fill the same later, he added.

The Census Awareness Committee had levelled serious allegations against the enumerators on the very first day. They had said that a few enumerators had filled the census forms using pencils (though there is a rule that forms should be filled with pens), while a few officials had taken signatures of citizens on empty forms.
The following day, the deputy commissioner had warned serious action against the erring enumerators.

Now, with the tahsildar justifying the deviation from rules, it appears that the nodal officers need proper guidance to conduct caste census, being held after a gap of 84 years.