Socio-economic survey: Aadhaar collected only for identification purposes & avoid duplication, HC told

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday sought to know from the enumerators of the socio-economic and educational survey as to why they were demanding Aadhaar number from citizens participating in the survey.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi posed this question to the Karnataka State Permanent Backward Classes Commission while hearing a batch of petitions praying for setting aside the survey, and a stay on the ongoing survey in the interim. The Commission is conducting the survey which will go on till October 6.

The Commission’s counsel informed the court that they were collecting Aadhaar numbers only for identification purposes, to ensure identity of households covered under the survey and that there was no duplication.


The court also sought to know why they were pasting a sticker on households and asking residents not to remove them. The bench asked the Commission’s counsel to show in the handbook instructions to enumerators that Aadhaar was not mandatory and the participants were free not to answer questions.

Additional solicitor general Arvind Kamath said that the survey that the state has taken up has characteristics of a census, an exercise only the union government was Constitutionally mandated to conduct. The state’s enumeration was trespassing into the Centre’s domain.

He said a survey was distinct from census in that it was specific to an issue.

The bench said it will continue the hearing on Thursday.

SERVER ISSUES

The survey, for which the government has deployed an army of schoolteachers and government officials, has run into technical glitches, and enumerators are way below their target due to the malfunction of the apps. An enumerator ET spoke to, said the app designed for the survey hangs quite often due to server issues, forcing them to resume the questionnaire.

“Today, I could do just one house because with 60 questions and a truant app, it takes about 30 minutes to cover one house. But not everyone has that kind of time or patience,” he said.