The poor wages given to the Self-Help Group members who were employed by the civic body to conduct the survey have been cited as the main reason behind it.

The 500 members of the SHG were given only Rs 1.50 for one building they visited and sometimes there were as many as eight families residing in one building

“Who will take the pain of moving from one house to another for such a small amount? The SHG members will understandably be careless if the payment is Rs 1.50 per building. Perhaps this explains the errors in the draft of the list prepared by KMC,” said a senior official of the social sector unit of the KMC.

For this arduous task, each member was set a target of 250 houses per day. The survey began in the first week of December, 2006 and the members were asked to wrap up the task within a month. Though over a year has passed since the survey began, many members are yet to receive their payment.

“We received a paltry amount from KMC for our efforts. Despite our repeated demands, the money was not increased. But all pleas fell on deaf ears,” said the president of SHG Sadbhavna in Behala, Sanchita Mitra.

The members of the sixty SHGs presently working in the social sector unit of the KMC belong from economically weaker sections of society.