Municipal Corporation of Tirupati tops among civic bodies

Tirupati: Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) stood in the top position in the State government’s prestigious Smart Pulse Survey (SPS). The survey of 33 per cent was completed from the total of one lakh households under the limits of MCT, as on July 31.

According to official sources, the survey started on July 10, two days after it was launched Statewide in the city and the survey teams faced many hurdles in the beginning. However, the survey gathered momentum after first week enabling it to get number one position in SPS in the State, they said.

Talking to The Hans India here on Thursday, a beaming MCT commissioner V Vinay Chand said the corporation was quick in resolving the hiccups including snag in the tablet provided to the 192 teams set up for the survey and resolve server problem that hamstrung the survey in the first week.

Vinay Chand said that each team consisting of an enumerator and an assistant saw the survey pick up momentum to achieve number one position among the civic bodies in the State. He stated that the officials monitored the survey three to four times in a day to sort out the issues which were cropped up.

Skilled supervisors and master trainers have guided the field personnel to handle the tablet efficiently for the smooth conduct of the survey,” he said explaining the special efforts being made by the corporation to gear up the survey.

These apart, select members of women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and the students of Social Work department of Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam (SPMVV) were also roped in to assist the enumerators in collecting and uploading the details of the family members of the households to accelerate the survey, he explained.

However, Vinay Chand said that that the survey which was originally scheduled to be completed by August 15, will take a week more due to the delay in the first week.

At the maximum, we will complete the SPS in the city covering the entire one lakh households in the MCT limits by August 25,’’ he said.

However, an enumerator said that they were facing two major difficulties for speedy completion of the survey. “One is network problem and other is the apprehension of the people in disclosing the family details,” he added.

The enumerators were facing difficulties to collect details in the narrow bylanes which were crowded. “A businessman was very friendly and even offered coffee to the enumerator and his assistant.But the moment, the enumerator sought his bank account details required in the questionnaire, he turned stony,” an enumerator said.