Nava Keralam Survey: Govt spends ₹3.73 crore on mobilisation of CPM supporters

Thiruvananthapuram: The state government spent ₹3.73 crore to mobilise CPM workers and supporters for house visits as part of the Nava Keralam Survey, raising questions over the scale and intent of the exercise.

While the number of houses covered stood at six lakh until three weeks ago, the introduction of a travel allowance of ₹7.50 per household significantly accelerated the survey's pace. The exercise, completed on March 15, covered a total of 49,73,021 households.

Earlier, the government had decided to provide volunteers with certificates signed by the Chief Minister. However, the decision to reimburse travel expenses led to a marked increase in participation. In addition, ₹1.15 crore was spent on training volunteers.

Critics argue that if the next government is not led by the LDF, such an expensive survey may never be made public. The UDF has also objected to the exercise and moved the court against it.

It has also emerged that both the survey and the public outreach programmes linked to it were carried out in a hurried manner ahead of the Model Code of Conduct coming into force on March 15. Of the 40,548 public meetings organised, 24,762 were neighbourhood group meetings under Kudumbashree.

Of the 6,97,213 participants in these gatherings, 3,37,223 were Kudumbashree members. Notably, nearly 60% of the volunteers and almost half of those who shared their opinions were Kudumbashree workers.

The survey sought public views on Kerala’s future development, required changes in ongoing projects, new welfare schemes, and modifications to existing ones. It also aimed to highlight the government’s achievements over the past decade.

Survey statistics

• Houses visited: 49,73,021 (52%)
• Feedback collected: 46,84,431
• Public gatherings: 40,548
• Participants: 6,97,213
• Opinions submitted via portal: 7,851
• Volunteers involved: 48,906