Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is enumerated as Telangana household survey is underway, at his residence in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Amid controversy, doubt and apprehension, the K Chandrasekhar Rao government in Telangana has conducted what it calls a "super-hit" mega survey to find out who lives in the state and what their profile is.
While the survey saw much enthusiastic participation, some respondents have raised questions about the authenticity, accuracy and usefulness of the data that has been collected today, primarily because of the way the survey was conducted in certain areas.
Residents in several localities of Hyderabad complained that people who seemed not to have been adequately briefed were sent to collect data. "A young girl came to my house to do the survey. She could not understand the columns and what was to be done and I had to do it myself," said a senior resident of Secunderabad.
In places, people complained that they hadn't been told what documents they needed to keep handy.
Jayanand, a public sector employee, waited at his home as he had been told that enumerators would go door-to-door. He later learned that, "they were just sitting in one corner and asking people to come and give details."
Jayanand also alleged that those conducting the survey in his area did not check or verify documents. "So you can say anything and get away with it," he said.
Prem Kumar, who works as a cleaner for a tanker, had the same report from Ambedkar Nagar. "Even if I am a backward class person, I could declare myself a Scheduled Caste and just change my father's name and create a new identity," he alleged.
Yet another person said a booklet meant to be filled in by those conducting the survey was handed over to residents, who then made their own entries.
About 3.69 lakh government employees and volunteers were assigned to survey 85 lakh households and 99 lakh houses in the state. Some volunteers reportedly quit because they were not paid for the work.
There were also reports that some government employees deputed for the survey sub-contracted their task to other people not qualified to handle the job.