The Bihar government on Thursday decided to set up a commission to study the condition of economically and socially backward sections of upper castes, a promise made by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
The State already has welfare commissions for the Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes, the Maha Dalits and the economically backward castes.
The five-member “Upper Caste Commission” would include a chairman and a vice-chairman, Afzal Amanullah, Principal Secretary (Cabinet Coordination), told journalists at the end of a Cabinet meeting.
The commission, with an initial tenure of three years, would undertake a comprehensive study of the problems affecting the backward among the upper castes and suggest recommendations for their uplift, he said.