Community groups to conclude digital surveys before Karnataka government exercise | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: In an attempt to pre-empt any discrepancies in the population numbers of their castes and subcastes, the dominant communities of Vokkaligas and Lingayats are embarking on their own caste surveys ahead of the state govt’s fresh socio-educational survey for which dates are yet to be announced.Vokkaligara Sangha president Kenchappa Gowda said the community has decided to go ahead with its survey by the end of this month or early next month.“The digital survey by the Sangha will be launched by the end of this month or early next month, irrespective of the state govt’s re-enumeration. The survey will be launched by Adichunchanagiri mutt seer Nirmalanandanath Swamiji,” said Gowda.According to him, the decision to conduct the digital survey has been driven by the scepticism about the govt’s ability to manage the enumeration scientifically.“With our digital survey likely to be concluded before the state govt exercise, we will be able to match the numbers of both the surveys and conclude the actual figures,” said Gowda.The Sangha has already identified vendors, who are also associated with the community leadership.Meanwhile, the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha (AIVM) will stick to their timeline of concluding its own survey by late Dec or early Jan.“As most of our community members are from farming backgrounds, Dec-Jan months will be off-season for them and they will be free to participate in our surveys,” said AIVM secretary Renuka Prasanna.
