Mohammed Ali Shabbir Calls for Probe into 2014 Household Survey
Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Advisor to the Telangana government for SC, ST, OBC, and Minorities, has urged Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to order a CB-CID inquiry into alleged irregularities in the Intensive Household Survey (IHS) conducted in 2014. The survey was carried out by the then TRS (now BRS) government.
In a letter to the Chief Minister on Wednesday, Shabbir Ali raised concerns about a document circulating with misleading information on the population of various castes, including SCs, STs, and BCs. The document, titled ‘Samagra Kutumba Survey (SKS)’ or ‘IHS-2014,’ allegedly contained selective data that was leaked to the media, distorting caste demographics.
The survey took place on August 19, 2014, and involved nearly four lakh government employees, including police personnel, to collect household information. However, Shabbir Ali pointed out several irregularities, such as the voluntary nature of data collection, which prevented legal scrutiny. Additionally, the survey was not officially notified under the ‘Collection of Statistics Act, 2008,’ raising concerns about its validity.
Shabbir Ali also claimed that personal details, including Aadhaar numbers, ration card information, bank data, LPG connections, and vehicle registrations, were collected through 94 different data points. Although the government spent ₹100 crore on the survey, the results were never officially presented in the Assembly. This lack of transparency, he suggested, raises suspicions of financial mismanagement and possible violations of privacy.
The Advisor demanded that those responsible for misusing public funds and compromising citizens’ data be held accountable. He also called for an investigation into whether private entities had access to the sensitive information collected during the survey.
