Massive household survey completed in T'gana, big success: CM

A massive household survey across Telangana to get details of an estimated four crore population in just one day was completed tonight with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao calling the unprecedented door-to-door drill a "big success" and an "eye-opener" for its critics.
About four lakh people from Telangana including teachers, policemen and students were involved in the 'Intensive Household Survey' of an estimated 84 lakh families in the newly formed state in what is billed as the first of its kind exercise anywhere in the country.
Roads in Hyderabad and in other parts of the state wore a deserted look as people chose to stay indoors to be enumerated for which the state government declared a holiday today and appealed to people to stay at homes. The exercise went on peacefully, officials said.

According to the "Check Slip" posted on the website of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), data is sought about the number of family members in a household, water tap connection, property tax assessment, LPG & electricity connections, bank account, Aadhaar card, caste certificate, birth certificate, disability, vehicles and land owned.
"This is a super hit survey. It is successful beyond our expectations. This is an eye-opener for those who criticised (it). I sincerely and whole-heartedly thank all the employees and students for making the survey a big success," Rao told a press conference this evening.
Seeking to defuse the controversy surrounding the survey, which aims at identifying who qualifies for state welfare schemes, Rao said, "those who tried to make it a controversy, their face has been blackened".

"Those who tried to malign the government's intentions about the purpose of the survey, and spread apprehensions and indulged in misinformation campaign...People have given a slap," he said.

Allegations were made about the "objective" of the survey, with certain sections saying the enumeration drive is aimed at identifying natives of Seemandhra, the truncated state of Andhra Pradesh, staying in Telangana.
To a query, Rao said the exact number of people who participated in the survey will be known only tomorrow.
"The data collected so far has suggested that the population of Telangana may cross four crore, including those residing out of the state, as against the estimated 3.5 crore. The current estimate of households in Hyderabad was put at 15 lakh. The survey so far suggested that it may cross 20 lakh and population can be in the range of 1.2 crore," he said.

Since the time the state government announced the survey, natives of Telangana, currently staying in different parts of the country, rushed to the state resulting in heavy rush in public and private transport buses and trains.
"Telangana natives living in cities like Mumbai, Surat and other places including from Gulf countries have came down to their native places for the survey," Rao said.