Nava Kerala survey sees poor response; govt gets only 4.5 lakh replies from 49.42 lakh households
Kochi: Kerala Government’s Nava Kerala Survey has failed to meet its intended objectives despite a prolonged legal battle, including proceedings in the Supreme Court.
The survey, which aimed to cover 95 lakh households, was halted after reaching 49.42 lakh homes, with the government receiving only about 4.5 lakh responses.
While household-level data collection saw limited success, focus group discussions organised through groups such as Kudumbashree members were conducted as planned. These discussions yielded around 46,000 responses.
A total of 96,200 people had registered to serve as survey volunteers, but only a small number attended the two-day training sessions. Even after reducing the training to a single day, volunteer turnout remained poor, forcing authorities to deploy Kudumbashree members for the survey. Teams of two were assigned to cover 250 households each, with a directive to complete data collection by February 28.
Kannur district came closest to meeting its target, with survey teams reaching 5.76 lakh households out of the planned 6.89 lakh. In Malappuram, only 2.96 lakh households were covered out of a target of 10.66 lakh. In Thiruvananthapuram, the survey reached 4.65 lakh households against a target of 10.32 lakh.
The survey was launched following a Cabinet decision on October 8 and involved an expenditure of ₹20 crore. However, the survey faced legal challenges, with a petition filed by the KSU state president and others leading the High Court to stay it. The state government later approached the Supreme Court and secured a favourable order to proceed.
Key areas covered in the survey:
- Suggestions for new development projects
- Public opinion on development activities over the past 10 years
- Recommendations for launching new social welfare schemes
- Feedback on existing welfare programmes