Geotagging, Unique Questions, Aadhaar: How Karnataka Will Use An App For Caste Census | Exclusive

Last Updated:September 12, 2025, 10:19 IST

For the first time in the country, Karnataka has developed a House Listing App that uses electricity meter readers to map every household in the state.

Each enumerator will cover about 150 households. (Representational pic/Reuters)

The Karnataka government is all set to begin its enumeration for the new caste census — officially called the Social, Economic and Educational Survey — using technology, teachers and a strict timeframe. Around seven crore people living in two crore households will be surveyed, with the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes carrying out the exercise over 90 days.

The highlight of the process is a first-of-its-kind House Listing App to be used for the caste census survey that has been developed in-house by the E-governance Department.

Karnataka’s Backward Commission chairperson Madhusudhan R Naik, speaking exclusively to News18, said that this unique app will enable enumerators to speed up data collection and bring all information together in a common data pool. Naik also explained the costs involved. The exercise is expected to cost Rs 450 crore — up from Rs 165 crore spent on the 2015 Social & Education Survey conducted by the Kantharaj Commission, which was eventually junked following opposition from dominant communities like the Lingayats and Vokkaligas.

“Initially we had earmarked close to Rs 600 crore as we will be using the services of 1.65 lakh enumerators, largely teachers. That would cost close to Rs 300 crore as we need to compensate them for their time spent, especially since they will be working during the Dussehra vacation. They will be required to cover about two crore households during the survey, which means extensive leg work," Naik said. After trimming expenses, the final cost has been fixed at Rs 450 crore.

Each enumerator is elected to be compensated with a total remuneration that would cost Rs 20,000 per enumerator. Each enumerator will cover about 150 households.

In this survey, producing one’s Aadhaar card is “absolutely necessary" for the surveyor to record details of the household.

How Does The App Work?

For the first time in the country, Karnataka has developed a House Listing App that uses electricity meter readers to map every household in the state.

As Karnataka has achieved 98 per cent electrification, meter readers who visit houses every month to generate bills were given the app on their handheld devices. When they reach a meter point, the app automatically drops a coordinate, pinpointing the exact location of the household — much like identifying it on Google Maps. With an estimated two crore households, this process has already covered nearly 1.5 crore homes and is being updated daily.

“Once a house is geotagged, a unique number is generated and pasted as a sticker on the door, marking it as a household ready for survey. This data captures details such as the meter number, the owner’s name, and the house’s exact location. Based on this, survey boundaries are created, and each enumerator is assigned about 150 houses, all digitally mapped.

“When the survey begins between September 22 and October 7, enumerators — often school teachers — will simply follow the geotagged routes on their devices, visit the marked houses, and collect the necessary data. This ensures every household is accounted for and makes the enumeration process accurate, streamlined and transparent," Naik explained.

Unique questions

The 2015 survey had 53 questions while this has 60 questions, but a very unique questionnaire. The questionnaire of the new caste census that is being undertaken starting September 22 apart from using geotagging to collect the information, is unique.

The Commission says what makes this survey truly unique is the depth of its questionnaire. It goes beyond caste, education, and economic status. It even maps gaps in infrastructure — whether a village lacks transport, whether there is no bridge to cross to the main road, or whether basic amenities are missing.

It will have 60 questions and during the survey, the enumerator will ask questions like the following:

Do you have legal cases? Do you need legal assistance? Do you have Internet access, are there facilities for differently-abled people? Have there been floods or other natural calamities on your area? Do you have parks and playgrounds in your area? How many family members are overseas?

The idea behind this is that the census should not be confined to an enumeration of backward classes but cover all.

“Many ask whether they should participate in the census because it’s for backward classes. No. The questionnaire is very unique and will ask questions to understand and touch upon various aspects of governance," said the Chairman of the commision.

“These questions will also help in better governance and gather information from the people as to what they lack and what welfare schemes, developmental work. We need to generate data of all seven crore people in the state, and once these questions give us data the government can use it to address them by asking respective departments to take it up," explained Naik.

“This makes it more than just a population survey; it is a tool for the government to assess where welfare measures are needed most. The data will guide budgeting, planning, and the rollout of future schemes. It is a massive exercise — one that seeks not only to count people but also to understand their lives in detail, so that governance can be more targeted and effective," Naik said.

The Commission will also rope in government clerical staff, panchayat officers alongside teachers and ASHA workers to help in the survey.

Looking back, Naik added that the Kantharaj Commission report and later the. Jayaprakash Hegde report was scientifically conducted in the right manner, but delays in adopting it rendered the data outdated, eventually pushing it into cold storage.

“Even though the survey report, in my view, was absolutely fine — 5.98 crore people were surveyed as against 6.13 crore, a difference of about 20 lakh or so, which is permissible. The questionnaire was perfect, the data generated was also accurate. Only because it became a decade old, the government could not act upon it. Therefore, it was simply kept aside. It was neither rejected nor acted upon," he said.

Training the teachers

The training of master trainers and approximately 1.6 lakh teachers who will be enumerators and work during the Dasara vacation for this house-to-house survey, is nearing completion.

“We have an app to train as well and this too was built in-house. That way everybody has a hands-on experience and training session so that the survey is more effective.

This is the second socio-educational – economic survey being conducted by the commission, after the first was one commissioned in 2025 under H Kantharaj. That caste census was finally submitted by K Jayaprakash Hegde in 2024 to then government after it was delayed for several years.

The 2015 commission report was submitted by K Jayaprakash Hegde, and that survey had 53 questions.

This new survey will take up a mammoth programme across the state with about 1,800 castes listed. The number of castes/sub-castes in the 2015 survey was 1,351 which went up to 1,821 after it was updated in a fresh quick survey that was recently commissioned.

Rohini Swamy

Rohini Swamy, Associate Editor at News18, has been a journalist for nearly two decades in the television and digital space. She covers south India for News18’s digital platform. She has previously worked with t...Read More

Rohini Swamy, Associate Editor at News18, has been a journalist for nearly two decades in the television and digital space. She covers south India for News18’s digital platform. She has previously worked with t...

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