In the first three weeks since it began, the Delhi government’s household socio-economic survey has covered less than 1% of the estimated population of 190 lakh, officials of the Directorate of Economics and Statistics said on Tuesday.
4 months to finish
The survey, which began on November 10, had covered 1.12 lakh individuals residing in about 26,000 households as of Monday morning, a senior official said, adding that it would take about four months to cover the city’s population.
The first-of-its-kind for the Delhi government in terms of its scale, the survey was ordered by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance and Planning Minister Manish Sisodia after three children from a family died due to starvation in Mandawali in July.
The instruction manual for surveyors issued by the directorate reveal the aim of the survey is to cover the entire population of Delhi to collect data on education, employment, income and access to healthcare and government schemes.
Surveyors registered
Once collected, the data is expected to help the government formulate policies.
In order to go door-to-door to collect the data, the government had invited graduates, retired teachers and Civil Defence volunteers to apply as surveyors.
The official said around 1,300 to 1,400 surveyors had registered and around 300 to 400 had started working on the ground, while training sessions were on for others.
Using a mobile application created for the survey, the field surveyors are collecting both household data, including access to water and sewerage infrastructure, and individuals’ information, including educational qualifications and medical history, the official said.
Mr. Sisodia through a radio advertisement, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal via newspaper advertisements, have appealed to Delhiites to cooperate with the surveyors.
While sample surveys have been conducted by various government agencies in the past, the ongoing survey would be the first to cover all households and collect all data needed for planning, the official said. For instance, data on disabilities would be used to formulate policies on disability pensions, the official said.
