Hyderabad: The comprehensive household survey aimed at studying the socio-economic, educational, health, and job situation in Telangana is happening at a brisk pace even in the remote hamlets of the Nallamala forests in Nagarkurnool district.
People’s representatives and enumerators have been going door-to-door gathering details about every Chenchu household living in the forest.
Teams that were dispatched to survey every Chenchu Penta (hamlet) inside the forest, have been collecting information based on the options given for every question in the booklet. Each option under a question is designated by a code number, which is being entered in a separate form specific to each household.
One of the last questions is among the most important of the questions, as it seeks to check if a household is facing any caste discrimination.
“Are you able to go to your places of worship freely without being prevented from entering there,” an enumerator asked a Chenchu woman.
The question certainly helps to capture the extent of caste discrimination prevailing in society.
“Have you availed any government scheme/subsidy in the past few years? Have you availed any scholarship while pursuing your education,” asked the enumerator.
These questions capture the information related to which sections and to what extent they have availed government benefits from student days to the time they have been engaged in various occupations. Most of the Chenchus have mentioned collection of forest produce as their occupation, as they have been depending on the forest for survival.
The survey captures detailed information with regard to the extent of land owned, and the type of land (whether wet-irrigated, dry-irrigated or uncultivated). Most of the Chenchus have not been empowered to take up farming despite owning lands, but they have all submitted that they were cultivating them, in fear of losing any government benefits in the form of Rythu Bharosa or Rythu Bima.
The questionnaire goes into detailed specifics about the area of their house, whether it is a temporary structure or a permanent one, what the walls and roof are made of, and other aspects of the construction.
In the case of Chenchus, they have been living in bamboo huts since time immemorial. Recently, pukka houses were constructed by the district administration for all the Chenchus living inside the core area of the forest. These houses can be dismantled and the cement panels which form the wall, and the metal roof sheet can be taken away. There are certain works which are still underway.
The enumerators have been patiently conducting the survey, without seeking any documents from the Chenchus, except taking a picture of them in front of the main door of their newly-constructed houses.
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