<p class="bodytext">The Karnataka State Commission for Women has raised a red flag over the discrimination, harassment, and unsafe working conditions faced by women enumerators who are involved in the ongoing Social and Educational Survey. Chairperson Nagalakshmi Choudhary’s letter to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) exposes an appalling breakdown of administrative responsibility. Reports of public abuse, punishingly long work hours, missing survey kits, and malfunctioning digital tools reveal how poorly this massive exercise is being managed. That women engaged in official duty should face verbal assault and humiliation is unacceptable. This is not civic frustration – it is criminal behaviour. Anyone obstructing or abusing an enumerator must be booked for preventing a government servant from performing her duty. Enumerators are merely implementing government instructions. Citizens are free to participate or decline, but no one has the right to mistreat or endanger them. A recent incident in Bengaluru, where a resident unlawfully confined a surveyor, is a reminder of the contempt ordinary workers face when the system fails to protect them.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At the heart of the problem is a malfunctioning online self-assessment platform that was expected to simplify the process. Instead, it has become a technological nightmare. Aadhaar authentication failures and other glitches have made the digital interface virtually unusable in many areas. Citizens have taken to social media to appeal to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Backward Classes Commission for remedial action, but problems persist. That such glitches cripple a major project in the IT capital of the country is an embarrassment and an indictment of those who are in charge of this exercise. Their failure to ensure a seamless rollout has eroded public confidence in the initiative and pushed frontline staff into unnecessary conflict. IT Minister Priyank Kharge must take personal responsibility to get the digital system back on track. A seamless online process would have dramatically improved coverage, as people could participate at their own convenience. This is a Rs 400-crore exercise, not an experiment. If the state government cannot ensure basic technological stability, the entire survey risks losing credibility.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Women’s Commission has also demanded shorter working hours and nearby postings for female staff – these are humane and entirely reasonable requests. Enumerators must not be treated as expendable foot soldiers; they are the face of the government before the people. Citizens must cooperate, and the government should fix the technology, protect the enumerators, and restore dignity to public service. The enumerators deserve protection, dignity, and empathy, not hostility.</p>
<p class="bodytext">The Karnataka State Commission for Women has raised a red flag over the discrimination, harassment, and unsafe working conditions faced by women enumerators who are involved in the ongoing Social and Educational Survey. Chairperson Nagalakshmi Choudhary’s letter to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) exposes an appalling breakdown of administrative responsibility. Reports of public abuse, punishingly long work hours, missing survey kits, and malfunctioning digital tools reveal how poorly this massive exercise is being managed. That women engaged in official duty should face verbal assault and humiliation is unacceptable. This is not civic frustration – it is criminal behaviour. Anyone obstructing or abusing an enumerator must be booked for preventing a government servant from performing her duty. Enumerators are merely implementing government instructions. Citizens are free to participate or decline, but no one has the right to mistreat or endanger them. A recent incident in Bengaluru, where a resident unlawfully confined a surveyor, is a reminder of the contempt ordinary workers face when the system fails to protect them.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At the heart of the problem is a malfunctioning online self-assessment platform that was expected to simplify the process. Instead, it has become a technological nightmare. Aadhaar authentication failures and other glitches have made the digital interface virtually unusable in many areas. Citizens have taken to social media to appeal to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Backward Classes Commission for remedial action, but problems persist. That such glitches cripple a major project in the IT capital of the country is an embarrassment and an indictment of those who are in charge of this exercise. Their failure to ensure a seamless rollout has eroded public confidence in the initiative and pushed frontline staff into unnecessary conflict. IT Minister Priyank Kharge must take personal responsibility to get the digital system back on track. A seamless online process would have dramatically improved coverage, as people could participate at their own convenience. This is a Rs 400-crore exercise, not an experiment. If the state government cannot ensure basic technological stability, the entire survey risks losing credibility.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Women’s Commission has also demanded shorter working hours and nearby postings for female staff – these are humane and entirely reasonable requests. Enumerators must not be treated as expendable foot soldiers; they are the face of the government before the people. Citizens must cooperate, and the government should fix the technology, protect the enumerators, and restore dignity to public service. The enumerators deserve protection, dignity, and empathy, not hostility.</p>
