Caste census to identify BPL families

The census is held by the Union Ministry of Rural Development, while the field work will be carried out by the State Rural Development department.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Law Minister Suresh Kumar said the census will be undertaken by the Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj at a cost of Rs 105 crore.

The entire expenditure for the census, scheduled to start from October 1 and conclude on December 31, will be borne by the Centre. The enumerators for the census would be drawn from the Revenue department. Anganwadi workers would also be roped in, he said.

The last socio-economic census conducted in 2004 revealed that the State had 67 lakh rural households, of which 18 lakh families were below poverty line, he said.

As per the Ministry of Rural Development, households without shelter; destitutes/living on alms; manual scavengers; primitive tribal groups; legally- freed bonded labourers;
households with only one room, kuchcha walls and kuchcha roof; female-headed households with no adult male member between 16 and 59 years; households with disabled member and no able-bodied adult member; SC/ST households; households with no literate adult above 25 years; and landless households deriving a major part of their income from manual casual labour will be enumerated.

Principal Secretary to the RDPR Amita Prasad said the census will be held in two phases in November and December. The department will rope in panchayat development officers, secretaries of taluk and gram panchayats, Anganwadi workers, and if needed, teachers to work as enumerators.

The enumerators will be given tablet PCs developed by Bharat Electronics Limited into which details pertaining to occupation, education, disability, religion, SC/ST Status, name of caste/tribe, employment, income and source of income, assets, housing, consumer durables and non-durables and land will be uploaded.

The ministry is yet to hand over the tablets to the department, said Prasad.
The nationwide census has already been initiated in Tripura in the North East.