Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has promised to make socio-economic data public after the release of the caste survey results. However, he did not provide a specific timeline for this. The first part of the survey provided a breakdown of the population by caste, but did not include information on their socio-economic status.
The all-party meeting held after the survey results were released was closely watched due to the controversy surrounding the survey. While the Bihar unit of the BJP remained silent on the issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the opposition of trying to divide the country based on caste.
The BJP in Bihar has criticized the survey, claiming there were errors. At the same time, they took credit for initiating the survey when they were in power with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) party.
The meeting included nine political parties with representation in the Bihar legislature, including Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, BJP, Hindustani Awam Morcha, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI(ML), and AIMIM. The purpose of the meeting was to share the survey details and discuss the way forward.
Sources revealed that most parties expressed relief and satisfaction at the release of the survey results, considering it a fulfillment of a promise made to the people. BJP Legislature Leader Vijay Kumar Sinha expressed dissatisfaction over certain groups being excluded from the report. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar assured him that if there were any errors, they would be rectified.
There were discussions during the meeting about releasing the socio-economic data, but the government is still considering its options. It was suggested that the data could be released during the next session of the Bihar Assembly.
Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan, after the meeting, stated that all parties, including the opposition, were happy with the results and provided their suggestions. When asked about the BJP’s response, Khan confirmed that they too welcomed the results. Although the BJP highlighted some errors, Khan mentioned that the chief minister assured them that they would be addressed if found to be true.
The survey revealed that approximately 63.1% of Bihar’s population belongs to a backward class, and about 85% are either backward or extremely backward class, Scheduled Caste, or Scheduled Tribe. The general category comprises only 15.5% of the population, while the largest group among the Other Backward Classes is the Yadav community, accounting for 14.27% of all OBCs.