Social, economic and educational data from the State government’s caste-based survey report was tabled by Parliamentary Affairs Department Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary in the Bihar Assembly on Tuesday, the second day of the winter session, in the presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The report was tabled in both Houses, and copies of it were distributed among legislators.
The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised objections to the report, alleging irregularities in it.
Editorial | Equality and identity: On the findings of the Bihar caste count
According to the data, there are 33.16% poor families in the Other Backward Classes (OBC); 25.09% poor families in the General Category; 33.58% poor families in the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC); 42.93% poor families in the Scheduled Castes (SC); and 42.7% poor families in the Scheduled Tribes (ST).
The 216-page report finds that in the General Category, poverty is highest among Bhumihars, a dominant caste in Bihar — 27.58% of the community is poor. The community totally numbers 8,38,447 families, out of which 2,31,211 families are poor.
Second in terms of poverty in the General Category are Brahmins — 25.32% of Brahmin families are poor. The total number of Brahmin families in the State is 10,76,563, out of which 2,72,576 families are poor.
Rajputs stand third in poverty in the General Category — 24.89% of Rajput families are poor. The total number of Rajput families in the State is 9,53,447, out of which 2,37,412 families are poor.
The Kayasth caste is shown to be most prosperous in the General Category — only 13.38% of Kayasth families are poor. The total number of Kayasth families in the State is 1,70,985, out of which 23,639 families are poor.
The data has also raised serious concerns over Bihar’s education system — only 7% of the population comprises graduates; less than 1% of the population has a postgraduate degree; 22.67% of the population has secured schooling from Classes 1 to 5; 14.33% of the population has been educated from Classes 6 to 8; and 9.19% of the population has been educated up to Classes 11 and 12.
The report says 34.13% or over a third of the families in the State have a monthly income of ₹6,000 or less. The survey also finds 29.61% of families have monthly incomes ranging between ₹6,000 to ₹10,000. Overall, more than 63% of families have a monthly income of up to ₹10,000.
Of the 2.97 crore families living in the State, over 94 lakh families are poor. Only 4.47% of families have a monthly income of over ₹50,000.
Among the OBCs, 2,89,538 Yadavs have government jobs (1.55% of the community) as compared with 1,17,171 Kurmis (3.11% of the community), and 1,12,106 Kushwahas holding government jobs.
There are a total of 6,21,481 persons belonging to OBCs in government jobs.
Among Muslims, the Sheikh community has the maximum number of government jobs (0.79% of the community). In the General Category, Kayasths hold the highest number of government jobs (6.68% of the community).
Similarly, among the EBCs, which comprise 112 castes, the Teli community has the maximum government jobs (1.44% of the community).
In another surprising finding, 95.5% of the population owns a vehicle but only 0.44% has four-wheelers. Of the total population, only 5,72,156 persons have a four-wheeler, and 49,62,000 have two-wheelers (3.80%).
According to the data, Brahmins are at the forefront in owning laptops or computers (47,81,280 persons, out of which 3.73% have Internet connections and 0.39% don’t). Bhumihars stand second in this tally (37,50,886 persons own laptops or computers, out of which 4.29% have Internet connections and 0.44% don’t). In all, 2.109 crore people have laptops and computers in Bihar.
The report also says that 14% of the State’s population lives in huts.
On October 2, the Bihar government published the Bihar caste-based survey report, which shows EBCs and OBCs together add up to nearly 63% of the State’s 13 crore population.
