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TIMES VIEW

BENGALURU: Your caste is no longer a secret. Information gathered during the Karnataka government 's Socio Economic Survey has been put up on the official website - all the 21 parameters, including caste, creed and sect.Conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes two months ago, the report is yet to be submitted, but details of the controversial census are already up in public domain.Officials working on the census report admit the leak is a double-edged sword."There were 21 parameters through which details of a person were sought. We will be displaying a person's caste. If a person benefits from government schemes reserved for her community, why not go public about it? We are only following the instructions of the government," says Shalini Rajneesh , principal secretary , backward class welfare department.The percent age of house holds covered under the Social Economic Survey , 2015, may stand at 99.65. However, as many as 20 lakh households in Bengaluru alone missed the exercise, some by choice and some because the enumerators never reached them. This is as per details available with the Backward Class Commission that spearheaded the census.While participating in the process wasn't mandatory , many apartment dwellers consciously decided to opt out of the exercise that asked them, "What's your caste?" In April and May , when government school teachers working as enumerators went to apartments, gated communities and group housing complexes, accessibility became an issue. “We took appointments and visited apartments but often many residents didn't turn up. They said they didn't wish to take par t and we couldn't force them as it wasn't obligatory," said an enumerator.Besides, during digitalization of the process, officials found over 15-20% of ID proofs like Aadhaar and EPIC numbers weren't matching with government data.Also, in a sample data of 2.21 crore households, officials realized that over 1 lakh belonging to backward classes didn't have caste certificates."The purpose of this exercise is to make citizens aware of government schemes and the programmes they can benefit from. Over 15 lakh households have no bank accounts; our next step is to ensure they have one. In some cases, ID proof such as Aadhaar and EPIC numbers aren't matching with information available in our database. In such cases, we shall contact them on their mobile numbers," said Shalini Rajneesh, principal secretary, backward class welfare department.The state government has betrayed people by doing exactly what they feared before participating in the controversial caste census. When citizens share personal details like their caste and phone number with the government, they must be kept confidential.Whatever the rationale, authorities have no right to make them public. Else, how different is the government from internet companies that use or make netizens' private data public? The government has to explain what purpose is served by publishing the details -other than encouraging discrimination, or harassment using phone numbers. The authorities should take steps to remove the data and ensure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.