Caste-based census in Ahmedabad begins from Monday

The city census department of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) will commence caste-based census from January 16. The civic body has employed 3090 enumerators equipped with tablet PC provided by Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) for this 13-day drive.

The enumerators will collect information in 32 columns of which the tablet PC will have pre-loaded information collected in national population form such as name of the head of the family, relation with other members of family, gender and date of birth. The enumerators need to just check the pre-loaded details.

The enumerator will collect more details such as individual information, highest educational qualification, source of income, long-term illness, religion, caste and sub-caste status, details of residence, facilities available in household, assets like refrigerator, mobile, computer and laptop, vehicles, air-conditioner and washing machine.

The civic body has divided the city into 57 wards and 12,446 blocks and appointed a total of 3,090 people including 463 supervisors and 2,627 enumerators. Of the 3,090 engaged in caste-based census, 30% will be AMC employees. "The enumerators will show or read out the details fed in the tablet PC to the head of the family for authentication," said Mohapatra, who is also principal city census officer for Ahmedabad.