Bihar Releases Caste-based Survey Results: OBCs And EBCs Constitute 63% (mage: twitter.com/Vipin Patel)
In the purview of upcoming Lok Sabha Election 2024, the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Monday released caste-based survey report. As there is Opposition’s increasing demand before Modi government for conducting caste census, Bihar’s publication of caste survey is significant.
The caste-based survey also called Bihar Jaati Adharit Ganana, reports that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and the extremely backward classes (EBCs) in the state constitute 63 per cent of the population. Among the 13-crore population, the backward class constituted 27 per cent of the population, while the EBCs falls under 36 per cent.
In the detailed break-down, survey shows that Scheduled Castes (SC) constitutes over 19 per cent, whereas Scheduled Tribes (ST) is of 1.68 per cent. And the general population, the “unreserved category” is about 15.52%.
Yadavs – the OBC community which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs to – shares 14 per cent of the state”s population, followed by Brahmins 3.66 per cent, and Musahars 3 per cent. Kurmis – the community which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar belongs, make up for 2.87 per cent and Bhumihars 2.86 per cent.
Mr Kumar sharing the publication of caste based census on X, formerly Twitter writes that based on reports, government will undertake further action for the upliftment of all sections.
आज गांधी जयंती के शुभ अवसर पर बिहार में कराई गई जाति आधारित गणना के आंकड़े प्रकाशित कर दिए गए हैं। जाति आधारित गणना के कार्य में लगी हुई पूरी टीम को बहुत-बहुत बधाई !
जाति आधारित गणना के लिए सर्वसम्मति से विधानमंडल में प्रस्ताव पारित किया गया था।…
— Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) October 2, 2023
Similarly, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh wrote about the importance of caste census for conducting “social empowerment programmes” as well as for “deepening social justice.” He also pointed out that though UPA-2 government completed the census, Modi government did not published it.
बिहार सरकार ने अभी राज्य में कराए गए जाति आधारित सर्वे के नतीजे जारी कर दिए हैं। इस पहल का स्वागत करते हुए और कांग्रेस सरकारों द्वारा कर्नाटक जैसे अन्य राज्यों में इसी तरह के पहले के सर्वेक्षणों को याद करते हुए, भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस अपनी मांग दोहराती है कि केंद्र सरकार जल्द…
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) October 2, 2023
The report will significantly influence the political arithmetic of Bihar as Lok Sabha elections will be held in the near future. In view of the report, the strategies and policies that dominant parties in Bihar — the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Janata Dal (United) (JDU) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — going to adopt in the upcoming days are crucial.
The numerical dominance OBC holds as per the survey report in the state also likely to stir the debate calling for the increased quotas for OBC.
