Hyderabad: Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir has asked Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to investigate alleged irregularities in the Intensive Household Survey (IHS) conducted by the TRS (now BRS) government in 2014. He has requested that a CB-CID inquiry be ordered to look into the matter.
In a letter to the Chief Minister on Wednesday, Shabbir Ali expressed concerns about a document titled “Samagra Kutumba Survey (SKS)” or “IHS-2014,” which is circulating with misleading information about caste populations, including SCs, STs, and BCs. He noted that the survey results were never officially released but were selectively leaked to the media, distorting caste demographics.
The survey, conducted on August 19, 2014, involved nearly four lakh government employees, including police personnel, to collect data. Shabbir Ali highlighted irregularities, such as the voluntary nature of data collection, which avoided legal scrutiny, and the lack of a legal notification under the “Collection of Statistics Act, 2008.” He stated that personal details like Aadhaar numbers, ration card details, bank information, LPG connections, and vehicle registrations were collected across 94 categories.
Shabbir Ali pointed out that despite spending Rs 100 crore on the survey, the results were never presented in the Assembly. He raised concerns about possible financial misuse and suggested that sensitive citizen data might have been sold to private companies, violating privacy. He also noted that fabricated caste figures from this survey are now being shared on social media, creating unrest after the release of the Telangana government’s socio-economic caste survey earlier this week.
The Congress leader has called for strict action against those responsible for misusing public funds and compromising citizens’ data. He urged the government to investigate whether private entities had access to the collected information and demanded accountability for any wrongdoing.