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In a significant move Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has released findings of its much-awaited caste survey which revealed that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) constitute a whopping 63 per cent of the state’s total population.
According to the data released in Patna by Development Commissioner Vivek Singh, the state’s total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which the (36 per cent) were the largest social segment followed by the Other Backward Classes at 27.13 per cent.
The survey also stated that Yadavs, the OBC group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs, were the largest in terms of the population, accounting for 14.27 per cent of the total.
Dalits, also known as the Scheduled Castes, accounted for 19.65 per cent of the total population in the state, which is also home to nearly 22 lakh (1.68 per cent) people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes.
Those belonging to the ‘unreserved’ category, which denotes the proverbial ‘upper castes’ who dominated politics till the Mandal wave of 1990s, comprise 15.52 per cent of the total population.
The survey also establishes that the state’s population is overwhelmingly Hindu, with the majority community comprising 81.99 per cent of the total population, followed by Muslims (17.70 per cent).
Christians, Sikhs, Jains and those following other religions as also the non-believers have a miniscule presence, together making up for less than one per cent of the total population.
Lauding the government officials who undertook the gigantic exercise, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, “A meeting will soon be convened of all the nine political parties with an electoral presence in the state legislature and the facts and figures will be shared with them.”
Later, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar further stated said that the report will be presented in the all-party meeting scheduled on Tuesday.”After doing everything the result came out. We have taken the financial condition of every family… Tomorrow in all party meetings we will keep everything in front of everyone…The government will take all the necessary steps after taking everyone’s suggestions in the meeting,” Kumar said while speaking to reporters in Patna.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad, who is Kumar’s ally as well as the father of his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, also issued a statement, declaring that the exercise will set the tone for ‘a nationwide caste census which will be undertaken when we form the next government at the Centre’.
Both Prasad and Kumar have played an instrumental role in the formation of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), which affirmed its commitment to holding a caste census at a meeting it held in Bengaluru.
Reacting to the Bihar government move, Congress party welcomed the Bihar government’s move to release the findings of a caste census and called upon the Centre to immediately conduct a similar exercise at the national level to ensure social justice and provide a firm foundation for social empowerment programmes.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the caste census of Bihar has proved that 84 per cent of people in the state are OBCs, SCs and STs and their share should be according to their population.
बिहार की जातिगत जनगणना से पता चला है कि वहां OBC + SC + ST 84% हैं।
केंद्र सरकार के 90 सचिवों में सिर्फ़ 3 OBC हैं, जो भारत का मात्र 5% बजट संभालते हैं!
इसलिए, भारत के जातिगत आंकड़े जानना ज़रूरी है। जितनी आबादी, उतना हक़ – ये हमारा प्रण है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 2, 2023
“Out of 90 secretaries of the central government, only 3 are OBC, who handle only 5 per cent of India’s budget. Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics of India…,” Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
