JOIN USWith the nearing of the Mega Household Survey, undertaken by the Telangana government, fear is rising among the lakhs of “settlers” from the Seemandhra region. The proposed survey will be conducted on a single day—August 19.
The Telangana government has declared a public holiday on the day, and asked everyone to stay home and answer questions, lest they lose the chance of being added to the list.
With the help of what is being referred to as the “mother of all surveys”, which covers over 84 lakh homes across 10 districts in the state, the Telangana government hopes to create a fresh database of socio-economic conditions of people in the new state. Around 4 lakh employees will help conduct the survey.
However questions are being raised over the intentions of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi government following the raging controversy of “nativity” and a growing sense of insecurity among the “settlers”.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are already locked in a bitter war of words over the nativity issue, after Telangana decided to fix 1956 as cut-off in ascertaining nativity and issuance of citizen cards.
Alleging that the survey is “regional terrorism”, the AP government has decided to move the Supreme Court. It believes the survey intends to identify Seemandhra residents in the Greater Hyderabad region. AP has been arguing that the Telangana government is violating the AP Reorganisation Act in letter and spirit through its policies, including the survey.
“For instance, questions like from which state one hails from, what language they speak and when they come to Hyderabad are clearly aimed at (identifying) Seemandhra residents in the city,” said Andhra Pradesh HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao.
“We will not watch our students, businessmen and small traders be alienated by the vengeful Telangana government in the name of nativity. We will move the Supreme Court and seek justice according to the Constitution,” he told reporters.
AP government sources have said Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has asked his Cabinet colleagues compile all such violations by the Telangana government so they can present them before the apex court when the need arises.