By Martin Shwenk Leade

Copyright indiatimes

AgenciesKarnataka HC

Karnataka High Court on Thursday allowed the ongoing socio-economic and education survey to continue but with a direction that it must be entirely voluntary, and enumerators cannot force a citizen to disclose information if he or she is not willing in a partial relief to both the government and those opposed to the exercise.A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi also laid down conditions the State Permanent Backward Classes Commission must comply with during and after the survey is complete. The court wants the Commission to ensure the data gathered during the survey is protected and kept confidential.There is a strict direction from the court that the data gathered is not disclosed to anyone post exercise.The division bench has asked the commission to submit a notification declaring that participation in the survey would be voluntary and no person was under any obligation to disclose any information. The court asked the Commission to communicate this to citizens through enumerators before inviting them to participate in the survey. If a citizen declines to participate in the survey, then the enumerator must not try to persuade or cajole the citizen to divulge any information, the order said.The court is hearing a batch of writ petitions praying to set aside the survey, and a stay on the ongoing survey, arguing that the State was in fact conducting a caste census in the name of a survey, encroaching on the domain of the central government. The enumerators were also demanding Aadhaar details interfering with their privacy.Live EventsThe state Congress regime has been forced to take up a fresh enumeration of castes after the AICC was flooded with complaints from political and religious leaders of dominant communities that the data gathered during the last survey was flawed.The AICC leadership has pushed Siddaramaiah to model the census on the lines of socio-economic, education, employment, political and caste (SEEEPC) survey the Congress regime in Telangana conducted.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
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