In India, General
elections are festivities, and the proposed survey is bound to be another as it
would cover about 84 lakh families ………. Telangana is expected to come to a
standstill on August 19 - the Survey will result in buses and autorickshaws
going off the roads, Mee Seva and other citizen service centres downing
shutters and petrol bunks remaining shut on August 19. Hospitals will operate
emergency services. About 4 lakh employees including policemen and teachers
would take part in the one-day exercise. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao,
who assumed office on June 2, has expressed hope that the outcome of the survey
would help the government plan better for welfare.
It has also led to
allegations that its hidden agenda is to target natives of Seemandhra. Some
media reports suggested that failure to participate would make people
ineligible for government schemes in future. In case of weddings, death in the
family or hospitalisation, citizens can call the enumerator (whose number will
be given during the pre-survey) to complete the inspection on a priority basis.
The proposal has
caused panic among denizens of the state working outside the state rushing back
home to participate in it. The out of
state workers fear that if they fail to stand up and counted in the survey they
will cease to be 'citizens' of Telangana and will lose their property and other
rights in the state. The Telangana government on Thursday informed the
Hyderabad High Court that the proposed Intensive Household survey on August 19
was a voluntary one and there was no element of compulsion. The judge recorded
this undertaking and declared that the court was not inclined to stay the
survey. The Govt has told the Court that
the information given by the citizens including the petitioners would be
available in public domain and the Govt was seeking to utilise the said information for
“weeding out” beneficiaries who are not entitled to various welfare schemes of
the State. To some, the survey is
tantamount to low-intensity targeting and singling out people from one
particular state.
The Hyderabad high
court permitted the Telangana government
to go ahead with the household survey on the assurance of the state's advocate
general that the exercise was not mandatory and denizens could choose not to
answer the queries of enumerators.
On the Independence
Day, the first for the State, colourful celebrations were held inside the historic Golconda fort where the Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao
hoisted the flag and launched a tirade against "evil forces" for spreading
a disinformation campaign about the intensive household survey in the State on
Tuesday. The Kakatiya dynasty, that ruled from Warangal from AD 1083-1323,
seems to be in the spotlight post bifurcation. The Golconda fort, where Independence Day was celebrated for the first time in Telangana state, was
constructed by the Kakatiya rulers.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
17th Aug 2014.
