The proposed socio-economic survey among forward communities is heading for a crisis with the Nair Service Society (NSS) denouncing it as a farce exercise and deciding against cooperating with it.
The organisation will boycott the October 7 meeting convened by the Kerala State Commission for Economically Backward Classes among Forward Communities in this regard.
The commission had decided to hold a sample survey among the five most economically backward families in each of the 19,000 wards of the local bodies in the State, thus covering at least one lakh persons.
For comprehensive survey
G. Sukumaran Nair, NSS general secretary, feared that the sample survey would not reflect the social realities. A comprehensive survey covering all the forward caste families was needed. The data generated by the survey was of significance. Hence the survey should be done in a scientific manner, he said.
“One need not rush with the sample survey as much time has already been lost. Let it be done in a proper and elaborate manner after the pandemic,” he said.
Church to cooperate
At the same time, the Jacobite Syrian Church and the Kerala Brahmana Sabha have decided to cooperate with the survey.
The Church, which is currently conducting an internal survey among its community members, would share the data with the government, said Peter K. Elias, secretary of the Jacobite Syrian Church.
KBS welcomes it
Welcoming the sample survey, Karimpuzha Raman, president, Kerala Brahmana Sabha, said the outcome of the sample survey should help the government go in for an elaborate survey like the Census. The data would serve as an eye-opener to the government, he said.
Commission sources termed the NSS suggestion impractical as a detailed survey would require much resources and time to complete. The NSS represents a minuscule section of the 164 forward communities in the State. The sample survey was intended to obtain a general idea on the issues faced by the poor and to frame the recommendations accordingly. It was the issues faced by the poor and not their head count that mattered. The panel had only five months left in the office and the recommendations had to be submitted within the deadline, sources said.
