Rs 38 crore released for caste census

 BHUBANESWAR: As the State is gearing up for the first ever socio-economic caste census (SECC), the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has released Rs  38.61 crore to meet the expenditure towards the survey.  Though the ministry has estimated the total financial requirement for the census at ` 53.89 crore, official sources said the survey related expenditure may cross ` 80 crore.   The Panchayati Raj Department is working out details of expenditure likely to be incurred and a proposal will be submitted to the Ministry to reimburse the entire cost. The Centre provided Rs 11 crore last year for pilot survey in 12 villages of 12 districts. A total of 2,143 families of the pilot districts were covered under the survey.  The enumerator and supervisor will be paid Rs 4,500 each for collection of  socio-economic data of individual house of an election block. Each enumerator will cover four election blocks (EB). Meanwhile, the Government has identified enumerator, supervisor, master trainer, master trainer facilitator and consignee officer for all the districts.  A nodal officer for single point contact at district-level has also been selected. Electronic Corporation of India Limited (EICL) is the central agency for supply of electronic hand-held device for data collection and placement of data entry operator.