School holiday: Karnataka announces holiday for government schools till October 18 amid ‘caste survey’

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday announced a holiday for government and government-aided schools in Karnataka from October 8 to October 18, allowing teachers involved in the ongoing social and educational survey, known as the ‘caste survey’, to complete their work.

Siddaramaiah said the survey will be completed within eight working days by October 18. However, teachers involved in mid-term examinations will be exempted from the survey.

Why has the Karnataka government announced a 10-day holiday?

The survey was supposed to be completed on Tuesday. However, due to a lag in work in many districts, the Chief Minister, along with his cabinet colleagues, decided to extend it for another 10 days.

“We were supposed to end (the survey work) on October 7. But in some districts, the survey is almost completed, while in some districts it was lagging,” the chief minister briefed reporters after a meeting with the ministers and officials.

“For example, in the Koppal district, 97 per cent of the survey has been completed. The survey was 63 and 60 per cent in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts, respectively. In the entire state, the survey has not been completed as we expected,” he explained.

Chief Minister also announced a compensation of ₹20 lakh to three staff members who died during the survey work.

Karnataka ‘caste survey’

According to PTI, the survey will see as many as 1.75 lakh enumerators, mostly government school teachers, covering around 7 crore people in approximately 2 crore households across the state.

The survey, at an estimated cost of ₹420 crore, is being conducted "scientifically," with a 60-question questionnaire prepared for the exercise, according to officials. The commission is expected to submit its report to the government by the end of December.

According to officials, each household will be geo-tagged using its electricity meter number and will be assigned a Unique Household ID (UHID).

During the data collection process, ration cards and Aadhaar details will be linked to mobile numbers. For those who are not at home during the survey, and to address grievances, if any, a dedicated helpline number (8050770004) has been set up. Citizens can also participate online, they added.

(With PTI inputs)