Karnataka SIR may pull staff out of caste survey

BENGALURU: Karnataka's caste survey may face delays as up to 40,000 teachers could be pulled out for Election Commission's SIR of the voter list.

The survey, with 1.75 lakh teachers deployed, showed better coverage Tuesday than on day one, though some districts reported few enumerators. With district administrations keeping booth-level officers (BLOs) out of the process, a manpower shortage looms.

Karnataka State Commission for Backward Castes member-secy K A Dayanand said the Greater Bengaluru Authority decided to keep BLOs out and is using other local body staff. "We have demanded teachers as enumerators, but DCs can decide who to deploy," he said.

Primary School Teachers' Association chief Chandrashekar Nugli said, "With 40,000 teachers working as BLOs, we must see how govt responds."

State School Monitoring Forum claimed 30% of teachers used influence to skip duties. The CEO said EC had no comment.