A day after releasing data from Bihar’s caste-based survey, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called for an all-party meeting to discuss the findings and decide on the next steps. Here are 10 key points on this development:
1. The Bihar government released data showing that 36% of the state’s population belongs to Extremely Backward Classes, 27.1% to Backward Classes, 19.7% to Scheduled Castes, and 1.7% to Scheduled Tribes. The general population accounts for 15.5%.
2. Yadavs, an OBC group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs, are the largest population group in Bihar, comprising 14.27% of the total.
3. Dalits, or Scheduled Castes, make up 19.65% of Bihar’s population, which also includes nearly 22 lakh (1.68%) people from Scheduled Tribes.
4. The Chief Minister stated that the survey findings will be shared with representatives from all nine state legislature parties that agreed to the survey.
5. When questioned if the caste census could lead to revised caste quotas, Chief Minister Kumar declined to comment, stating that he will first present the findings to all parties and then focus on policies targeted at castes in need of assistance.
6. Chief Minister Kumar expressed his confidence that Bihar’s caste survey will inspire a nationwide census of all social groups. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav agreed with this sentiment, stating that a nationwide caste census will be conducted when their party forms the next government at the Centre.
7. Shortly after the survey data was released, Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the opposition for attempting to divide the country based on caste, calling it a “sin.”
8. Rahul Gandhi, announcing that the Congress would conduct a caste census in Madhya Pradesh if it wins the election, emphasized the need to know the caste statistics of India due to the underrepresentation of OBCs in government positions and budget allocation.
9. The last nationwide census of all castes was conducted in 1931. In June last year, the Bihar cabinet approved a caste survey and allocated Rs 500 crore for the exercise.
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