New Delhi
The results of a caste survey by the government of Bihar have been made public. More than 63 per cent of the east Indian state's population belongs to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), as per the data. How significant is this data for the state and national politics?
The Bihar legislature unanimously approved a resolution on the caste-based survey, said the state's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The survey took into account a person's economic situation in addition to their caste, which will help build new policies and programmes for the advancement of all classes.
Caste Census: A contentious issue
Data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were published following every independent India census from 1951 to 2011, but no information on other castes. Before that, caste information was included in every Census up until 1931.
Caste-based data, however, was gathered but not released in 1941. There would not have been an all-India caste table, according to MWM Yeats, the census commissioner at the time.
The contention was that the time has passed for this large, expensive table to be a part of the main project.
As a result, there is now no accurate estimate for the population of OBCs, different groupings within the OBCs, and other disadvantaged groups.
What is the caste survey in Bihar?
The caste survey results were made public by the Bihar government on Monday (Oct 2).
The national census, which was intended to be performed in 2021 but has yet to begin, was only going to include members of the scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs), but the Nitish government decided to survey on its own last year.
The Bihar assembly had unanimously approved the caste survey idea twice, first in 2019 and once in 2020. Nitish Kumar, the chief minister from the Janata Dal United (JD-U) party, was working with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the time, which now sits in the Opposition.
The state administration began the survey procedure this year.
In the interim, Nitish severed connections with the BJP and established a coalition government with erstwhile enemy the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and others in what is known as the "Mahagatbandhan" (Grand Alliance) to rule the state.
The Grand Alliance is part of a 28-party national opposition alliance, INDIA, which aims to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the general elections of 2024.
The caste census got off to a rocky start in January and was put on hold by the Patna High Court due to petitions opposing it. However, once the courts approved the exercise in August and dismissed the pleas, the exercise was continued.
The exercise was funded with Rs 1 billion by the Nitish government last year, and the deadline was set for February 2023. However, the exercise started in January instead of February, and the results were released nine months later than expected.
Although it is officially referred to as a "caste survey," in all actuality, it is a census because the exercise tallied the state's population and recorded it according to the caste identification of the people enumerated.
The Bihar caste survey's results
According to the Bihar caste survey, the 'backward communities' make up about 63 per cent of the state's population.
Out of Bihar's estimated population of 130 million, the largest group is the extremely backward classes (EBCs), which make up about 36 per cent.
With roughly 27.13 per cent, the other backward classes (OBCs) come in second.
According to the caste study, the Yadavas, an OBC group that includes the family of former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, make up the largest social group in the state with a 14.27 per cent share of the population. The Janata Dal-United (JD-U) of Nitish is in coalition with the RJD, and Tejashwi, the son of Lalu, is the deputy chief minister of Bihar.
According to the caste study, scheduled castes (SCs), also known as Dalits, make up 19.65 per cent of the state's population, and scheduled tribes (STs) make up roughly 1.68 per cent of the population of Bihar.
About 15.52 per cent of the people in the state fall under the "unreserved category," often known as the "general" category. This group is referred to as the "upper castes" in general.
The caste survey's sociopolitical importance
The demand for adequate representation of historically underrepresented communities in public institutions and politics is linked to the call for the caste survey.
Currently, there is a 15 per cent reservation for scheduled castes (SCs) in government employment and higher education, a 7 per cent reservation for scheduled tribes (STs), and a 22 per cent reservation for other backward classes (OBCs).
Political parties make their estimates in states and for Lok Sabha and Assembly seats during elections. The Mandal Commission put the OBC population at 52 per cent; other estimates have been based on data from the National Sample Survey.
The question arises, is this a political motive? If yes, then who shall benefit from it? To understand the nuances, Wion spoke to Dr. Sajjan Kumar, political analyst, and researcher.
“An updated caste data is required not because to promote caste system but for proper implementation of the government schemes. So, it should have been done way before, as caste is a reality," he said.
"The problem comes with how you utilise the data, What are the intentions? there lies the policy and politics."
Kumar noted that there are different ways of reading the data.
The EBCs constitute the majority, he pointed out, adding that the opposition party will try to make it upper-class versus the OBCs "but it may also snowball into dominant OBCS, the middle-class OBCs, and the extremely backward class OBCs."
There has been no significant representation of the EBCs in the last 33 years, Kumar pointed out.
"Since 1990, Bihar has been ruled by an OBC politician. Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi, and Nitish Kumar belong to Yadav and Kurmis. Then what about EBCs? What is their credential?
"Now the BJP may use this data to play against the Yadav and Kurmis for OBCs and the EBCs because in terms of representation. The BJP gets votes from the weaker OBCs and EBCs,” he added.
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The most intriguing part is that caste numbers has been released but not the socio-economic data.
And that is something that tells you why there is a hesitation.
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If there are 85 per cent of weaker communities, why has the Bihar government not released the socio-economic data associated with it?
Kumar said, “Since the 1970s, the pattern in Bihar has been the upper class, who were the major land-holding community, have been selling the land and among the major beneficiaries of the new land holding community happen to be two castes: the Yadav and the Kurmis."
"That is why in the last 33 years they never tried to implement land reforms, neither Lalu Prasad Yadav nor Nitish Kumar. That will expose the contradictions between the OBCs. The BJP already is the beneficiary of the larger chunk of the lower-class OBCs. The BJP has the advantage,” he pointed out.
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