Caste survey paramount for country's progress: JDU National President Lalan Singh

The JDU National President said that union Home Minister Amit Shah had himself stated that caste survey had not been conducted in the country since 1931.

Patna: Day after Nitish Kumar led ,Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar released the much awaited caste survey, National President of the Janta Dal United (JDU), Lalan Singh on Tuesday said that the survey is “paramount for the country's progress”. In a special conversation with ETV Bharat, Singh said, “Important to know how many castes are there in the country. If you want the country to develop, it is important to know the economic status of different castes,” Singh said.

Over the Centre's criticism of the caste survey, the JDU National President claimed that union Home Minister Amit Shah, who he had met in the Parliament, had himself backed the survey saying that the survey had not been conducted int the country since 1931. “Amit Shah said that since 1931, no caste census had been conducted. When the Centre did not give its approval for the survey, the Mahagathbandhan Bihar government decided to conduct the survey on its own. Country needs to have caste census afresh. I want to congratulate Mahagathbandhan government for the successful conduct of the survey despite hurdles,” Singh said.

The JDU National President said that the BJP government at the Centre “tried its best to disrupt the survey”. “But the Mahagathbandhan government has been advocating social justice. Nitish Kumar has been striving for justice of all sections of the society. Bihar government will try its best for the welfare of the economically weaker sections of the society,” Lalan Singh said.

The JDU leaders's statement comes a day after the Bihar government released the report of the recently conducted caste survey in the state. The findings of the caste survey were unveiled by Development Commissioner Vivek Singh at a press conference in Patna on Monday. According to the survey, majority 63 percent of the state's population comprises of OBCs (Other Backward Classes) and EBCs (Extremely Backward Classes).