Workers who are already underpaid and overworked have been roped in by the state to assist with frequent door-to-door visits, help citizens understand the survey process, guide them through the questionnaires, and conduct the enumeration.
Published Sep 24, 2025 | 12:00 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 24, 2025 | 12:00 PM
At a time when surveys are being held one after the other, Anganwadi workers have little time left for daily duties. (Wikimedia Commons)
Synopsis: The demands of back-to-back surveys in Karnataka, whether the ongoing Devadasi survey and caste census or preparations for the upcoming Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, have taken a toll on Anganwadi and ASHA workers. Underpaid and unable to devote attention to their regular duties, the workers have already reported exhaustion from their mounting responsibilities.
Yashoda, an Anganwadi worker in Bengaluru’s Vijayanagar, has barely had a moment to rest over the past few weeks.
She was called for training for the upcoming Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise of electoral rolls in Karnataka, on Sunday, 21 September. A day later, she had to go door-to-door for the second round of a socio-economic and educational survey.
All the while, she has had little time for her regular duties at the local Anganwadi centre. “We are being completely tortured,” she told South First.
Workers who are already underpaid and overworked have been roped in by the state to assist with frequent door-to-door visits, help citizens understand the survey process, guide them through the questionnaires, and conduct the enumeration.
The plight of Anganwadi and Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers in Karnataka has been largely the same in recent weeks, amid preparations for three back-to-back statewide surveys. Two—the Devadasi survey and the caste census—are currently ongoing, while the SIR exercise is yet to begin.
“Being an Anganwadi worker is already a demanding job. We have repeatedly told the state government that our focus should remain on Anganwadi services alone. But our workers are under immense pressure with these additional responsibilities,” said HD Sunanda, Karnataka State General Secretary of the Anganwadi Workers Union.
At a time when surveys are being held one after the other, Sunanda said Anganwadi workers have little time left for daily duties, such as delivering rations that people urgently depend on.
Lakshmi, an Anganwadi worker, was on her way to Mysuru for the Dasara festivities. Like many others, she has also been directed to participate in government-organised festival programmes this month.
“We are doing double the work during all these programmes and surveys. But we aren’t being compensated enough for it. I was supposed to spend this festival with my family,” she told South First.
A few days before the survey, Lakshmi went door-to-door in Bengaluru to explain to people what the socio-economic and educational survey would entail. She already feels exhausted.
“I don’t think I am prepared for the next survey that has to start,” she said, referring to the SIR. While the exact schedule is yet to be announced, the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka said training had already begun.
Several opposition leaders in the state have criticised the government for conducting the socio-economic and educational survey during the Dasara holidays.
“The timing of the survey is questionable as the government plans to complete it in just 15 days, during the Dasara festival. This is impractical and will only result in incomplete and unreliable data,” a memorandum issued by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot stated.
Responding to the criticism, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday told reporters that the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes decides the logistics of the timeline.
This is not the first time the government has depended on Anganwadi workers for a survey exercise.
In 2024, Anganwadi and ASHA workers were asked to conduct surveys to check if the benefits of the Congress’ guarantee schemes had reached the people, whether the benefits were utilised properly, and the beneficiaries’ opinions about the schemes.
Each Anganwadi and ASHA worker covered 100 to 120 houses. While the government assured that ₹1,000 would be provided to each of them, workers said it was not enough, given that they have been demanding a raise in their usual remuneration for several months.
A study conducted by NGO Indus Action showed that beneficiaries of guarantee schemes found Anganwadi workers to be more helpful than Gram Panchayat officials, as they would often approach them for grievances at both the application and post-application stages.
This held true especially for the state’s Gruha Lakshmi Scheme, which provides ₹2,000 as monthly financial assistance to women who are the heads of their households, the study noted.
While the state leadership proudly boasts of successes from these schemes, Anganwadi workers question whether they have been remunerated at the same level. An Anganwadi worker in Karnataka today earns ₹11,000–13,000 as monthly remuneration.
However, workers have been demanding a raise for the additional work they have been asked to do. Hundreds of Anganwadi workers protested at Freedom Park in Bengaluru early this year, demanding that their monthly honorariums be increased to ₹15,000.
They also demanded a ₹2 lakh retirement benefit and medical aid for serious illnesses. While the protest was withdrawn after the Women and Child Development Department director assured that the demands would be addressed, workers say that the demands remain unmet.
Meanwhile, the Chief Electoral Officer Karnataka, V Anbukkumar, announced that the honorarium for Anganwadi workers working as Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) during the SIR would be increased by ₹6,000 to ₹18,000.
While ASHA workers in Karnataka have also been roped in for the state’s surveys, several have decided not to participate in the ongoing socio-educational survey.
“As reported in the media, ₹2,000 will be given for all these works. But no official order has been received from the department so far,” the Karnataka Rajya Samyukta ASHA Karyakartheyara Sangha, affiliated with the All-India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), said in a press statement dated 15 September.
Farhana, an ASHA worker in Bengaluru, told South First that the decision to boycott stemmed from bitter experiences with the government in the past.
“The state government had also promised a monthly guarantee of ₹10,000 to ASHA workers from 1 April. However, this money has not been released,” she said.
Prior to the ongoing socio-educational survey, ASHA workers were asked to visit households in advance to provide application forms. As the survey begins, they have to visit every house at least three times for enumeration, in case the resident is not available the first time.
Every household will also be geo-tagged using electricity meter numbers and assigned a Unique Household ID (UHID).
“It is a lot of work on a daily basis for 15 days. We do not trust the government anymore. How can we? Hence we have decided not to participate,” said Farhana.
She added that while she will carry out duties assigned by the Health Department, she will not accept work handed down from other departments.
The ASHA workers’ association had also urged the government to immediately issue an order fixing the honorarium for this survey work at ₹5,000 for rural ASHAs and ₹10,000 for urban ASHAs.
“If the government agrees to this, the ASHA workers have decided to join the survey work,” the association said in its letter.
While Karnataka awaits the results of three significant surveys, the state’s frontline workers, who are vital to the successful completion of such exercises, have been stretched to their limits.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
