Telangana Intensive Household survey questions drafted tactlessly

Hyderabad: The Telangana Intensive Household Survey has some unusual questions for the citizens. Column 19 which deals with a person’s occupation, has 36 parts which include “scavenging”, “begging” and “do nothing”. Moreover, there are two very similar options: For “other professions” and “others”. Interestingly, “do nothing” comes much before “IT professionals”, “apartment watchmen”, “private security guards” and others.

“The framing is really shabby. They could mention skilled or unskilled or even have just mentioned their professions. It is an official survey, and why would you have columns like that? And even the spellings are wrong, ‘barber’ is spelt as ‘barbour’,” said a research scholar.

Column E, which has a special reference to people with disabilities, insensitively mentions “mentally retarded” and “deaf and dumb” as sections to be marked by the enumerators.

It also does not mention “HIV positive”; instead, it lists people with “AIDS” or even worse, “AIDS affected”. “It is offensive to say ‘retarded’ even in the coded details form. It has been clearly mentioned that one must use the words ‘differently abled’,” said another citizen and a parent of a child who is hearing impaired.

IN SENSITIVE

• Column 19, which deals with a person’s occupation, has 36 options including “scavenging”, “begging” and “do nothing”.
• Column E, which has a special reference to people with disabilities insensitively mentions “mentally retarded” and “deaf and dumb” as sections to be marked by the enumerators.