Caste survey helpline logs 10,000 calls from Bengaluru

About two weeks ago, homeowners across the city found stickers indicating completion of the caste survey on their doors or gates, when it had not been carried out. Since then, approximately 4,000 of them reported the matter to the helpline set up by the Social Welfare Department at its Vasanthnagar control room. 

The statewide survey, aimed at facilitating internal reservation for Scheduled Caste (SC) communities, began on May 5 and concluded this Sunday. On April 27, a 24/7 helpline (94813 59000, call and WhatsApp) began operating to assist citizens with the protocol and to report concerns.

Bengaluru accounted for 10,000 of the 42,000-plus calls received statewide by Sunday. 

According to project manager Sreenath, 99% of Bengaluru’s calls came after June 25, after the “sticker event” came to light. While the helpline initially handled 400-600 calls a day, the number surged to between 900 and 1,300 after June 25. In cases where homes were marked without proper verification, the helpline team forwarded their details to BBMP officials for follow-up. Sreenath said the initial set of callers wanted to know what the survey was about, when surveyors would visit and what the process would involve. Later, a common concern was confusion over sub-caste codes, as some names sounded similar (such as Holaya, Holer, or Holeya). “For ration card-related issues, we redirected callers to taluk officers or food department officials,” he said. 

Apart from the door-to-door survey, citizens could also submit caste details online via a self-declaration portal. Fewer than 1% of callers raised concerns over this mode, related to misspellings or formatting issues in documentation. “In such cases, we collected the information and sent it to the Electronic Delivery of Citizen Services team, which resolved it from the backend,” said Sreenath. He added that filling out the form typically took 20 to 40 minutes.

A few callers used the helpline to voice broader frustrations with governance, often aggressively.

The helpline began with six executives and later scaled up to 16. Although the survey concluded on Sunday, it remains active, especially to assist with ID-related issues.

On Monday, it received 350 calls; by 2 pm Tuesday, about 200 more. Some callers said they missed the survey as they were away and wanted to know if they could still take part. “We told them that if the government reopens the survey, we will inform them,” said Sreenath. Others from the general category were asking why stickers are on their walls when the survey doesn’t apply to them.