State caste census leaked before its official release

The caste- based census conducted by Karnataka State was leaked much before its official release, according to reports.

The leaked data reflects 500 new castes in the state. It also revealed that the number of Dalits exceeds the number of Muslims and Lingayat residents in the state.

Soon after the government was engulfed with the question paper leak issue and was finding a way to resolve the issue at hand, it was reported that the caste-based census was leaked.

The state boasted about its ‘first in the country’ caste-based census but is now receiving flak  for administrative failure. Apparently the census report was not ready and it was scheduled to be released in May.

“The process of setting the problem right in data entry is on. We have conducted at least 10 meetings with the experts. There are no mistakes in the finalised list,” said Anbukumar, Member Secretary, State Backward Classes Commission.

In an effort to reach out to the real beneficiaries of various schemes, the government had conducted caste-based census of 6.20 crore people in Karnataka. The government had given the responsibility of data-entry work to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

The company planned to take computer-literate volunteers on a daily-wage basis. But as they did could find enough people for data-entry work, the company approached college students to volunteer for the task. Several mistakes like including caste in the religion column and vice versa were found in the data collection. Sources said that collected data of at least 12.5 lakh applications that have been entered was wrong.

The sources in the government say that a notice has been sent to officers concerned to set the data right.

“The process of setting the problem right in data entry is on. We have conducted at least 10 meetings with the experts. There are no mistakes in the finalised list,” said Anbukumar, Member Secretary, State Backward Classes Commission.