Only about 15,000 Devadasi women across 15 districts in the State have enrolled themselves for the survey so far.
| Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
The ongoing re-survey of Devadasis in Karnataka might be extended by one more month till December 31, The Hindu has learnt from highly placed sources.The survey, which commenced on September 15, was planned to be held for 45 working days, ending on November 21.“However, considering the complex and time-consuming nature of the survey, the Minister for Women and Child Development has directed for an extension. The order is yet to be issued,” an official said.Poor numbersAround 20 days into the survey, only about 15,000 Devadasi women across 15 districts in the State have enrolled themselves. The documented number of Devadasi women during the 2008-2009 survey was 46,660. The current enrolment number is only around one-third of this, hinting at slow progress.One of the demands in the letters sent by the Karnataka Vimuktha Devadasi Mahila Mathu Makkala Vedike and the Centre for Study of Inclusion at the National Law School of India University to the government was an extension of the survey timeline. According to the activists, the awareness among community members about the survey remained low, and the survey mandate to obtain multiple documents from different departments was time-consuming.Review meetings held The Karnataka State Women’s Development Corporation (KSWDC), the nodal agency for conducting the survey, on Wednesday held a review meeting in which around 60 women from the Devadasi community from different districts participated.Manjula Malagi, convener at the Karnataka Vimuktha Devadasi Mahila Mathu Makkala Vedike, expressed optimism after reportedly receiving positive responses from the government officials. “The officials assured to look into concerns around age criterion and promised to ensure adequate facilities at survey centres,” she said.According to her, one of the biggest difficulties before the community members, especially children of deceased Devadasi women, was to prove their Devadasi family tree.Mahesh Babu, MD at WCD, however, noted that multiple options are in place already for the same. “There are already databases of Aadhaar holders — living and dead — and the 32,000 Devadasi women are receiving pension. But there are a few who died before receiving the Aadhaar and whose family need to be registered in the current survey. Those families can approach the officials who maintain the birth and death registrar via DC. We have informed those officials regarding the survey.” He added that the officials have been sensitised to provide the certificates without harassing the applicants. “New applicants can approach the DC and Tahsildar committee who will take a call on it,” he added. Drive proposedThe department also held a review meeting regarding the ongoing survey for gender minorities. Sana Suman, member of the State committee for survey of gender minorities, termed the survey positive and noted that the officials responded to several suggestions in affirmative.“G. Padmavathi,Chairperson of Karnataka State Women’s Development Corporation, has agreed to take our demands regarding door-to-door survey and survey at community organisations to the Women and Child Development Minister,” said Ms. Suman.“We also requested an extension of the survey timeline. She orally promised us that she would propose an extension of 15 days,” she added. The survey has been seeing poor turnout in Bengaluru Urban with only around 500 individuals turning up for the survey so far. Across Karnataka, around 8,000 individuals have registered to date. “To boost the mobilisation, we suggested organising a large camp where all the enumerators can gather to organise a drive,” said Ms. Suman Published - October 15, 2025 09:41 pm IST
