Inaccurate responses set to throw up misleading results

The State Government may have patted its back for evoking unusual enthusiasm among citizens for the integrated household survey (IHS) conducted on August 19, but the result could actually be misleading. Facts, mostly amusing and somewhat disturbing, with regard to the survey and the drift of responses are emerging slowly which are only a pointer towards inaccuracies in the massive exercise.

For example, a potter at Devapur village in Talamadugu mandal disposed off all his unsold stock of about 200 clay ovens just before the day of survey. It now turns out that villagers purchased the ovens to organise a kitchen in sheds meant for animals within the respective houses just to show the enumerators that there are more number of families in their house.

As a result the number of households in Devapur increased by 80 over the number of 810 assessed by enumerators and 200 over 673 recorded in 2011 census and by 202 in Kuchalapur over the 842 numbered and 240 over 804 recorded in the last census. The phenomenon was witnessed in families which have drawn crop loans on more than one bank account, according to unofficial observations made by enumerators.

“The restriction of Rs. 1 lakh per family in the crop loan waiver scheme has made farmers with multiple loan accounts show more number of households in the survey. They fear the loans on all accounts will not be waived if all the loanees exist under one roof,” pointed out an enumerator.

At Ruyyadi village in the same mandal, a 70-plus woman was made to stay in the animal shed converted as kitchen for the entire day in order to impress upon the surveyor that it was a different household. “It was done to circumvent the government’s intention to weed out bogus as well as excess ration cards in one family,” another enumerator added, also wanting to remain anonymous.

In Talamadugu mandal itself the increase in number of households was by 1,100 over the 8,866 households for which numbering was done by enumeration staff and by 893 over the 8,161 registered in the 2011 census. In the district, some 44,000 extra households were surveyed against the numbered 7.2 lakh and 6.5 lakh of households registered in the last census.