Patna: The Bihar government's much-publicised and controversial caste-based survey, which was made public on October 2 just months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, has opened a can of worms.
The census that revealed that the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) comprise 63 per cent of the state's population, has stirred the hornet's nest as leaders of other dwindling castes coming out loud in their protest against the Nitish Kumar-led government. Their contention is their respective castes were neglected by the government resulting in the socio-political backwardness of those cates.
It's no secret that CM Nitish Kumar advocated the Bihar caste census despite the BJP's objection to it. For the first time in Independent India, a caste based census has been done by any state. The report of caste based census in Bihar coincided with the Gandhi Jayanti on Monday.
According to this report, while there has been an increase in the number of backward castes, the number of upper castes decreased. Caste census was conducted in 1931 before 2023. The 1931 census showed there were 13% upper caste people in Bihar, but in 2023, the number significantly came down to 10.66%. A decrease of about two and a half percent has been recorded in this regard.
A significant dip in upper caste population in Bihar
According to the 1931 census, the number of Brahmins in Bihar was 4.7%, which has now come down to 3.65. The population of Bhumihar caste was 2.9% then. The number was reduced to 2.86 %. Rajput population was 4.02% but now it has also reduced to 3.45%. There is a decrease in the population of the Kayastha. Their population was earlier 1.2%, but now, it has come down to 0.60%.
Protest over decline in population
The caste survey report evoked an outcry from different castes in the state. People belonging to Kushwaha caste have protested saying that their population has been underestimated. People of Kushwaha community have also protested against Nitish Kumar by putting up posters. At the same time, the anger of the people coming from Kayastha community is also at its peak. The community leaders fumed at the government saying CM Nitish Kumar should explain how their population has halved.
Bhumihar population less than Kurmi
The population of Bhumihar caste has also shown a decline. In Bihar, the population of Kurmi caste has been shown to be more than that of Bhumihar. According to this report, the population of Kurmi caste is 2.87 percent, while the population of Bhumihar caste is 2.86 percent. State President of All India Kayastha Mahasabha, Ajit Kumar Srivastava said, " The manner in which the calculations were done is beyond our understanding."
He continued, "How castes have been calculated is beyond our understanding. Our population in Patna alone is more than 7 lakh. Apart from this, Kayastha caste population is also significant in Muzaffarpur, Motihari and Gopalganj districts. The government should explain why our numbers are being reduced?" Srivastava questioned.
Kushwaha community is also angry
At the same time, Arun Kushwaha, who comes from the Kushwaha community, believes that impartiality was not maintained while publishing the caste census report. "The way all the sub-castes of Yadav caste were included, in the same manner all the sub-castes of Kushwaha caste should also have been included," he said.
What do expert say?
Political analyst Sanjay Kumar says that the number of backward castes has increased but the number of Brahmin, Rajput, Kayastha and Bhumihar castes decreased by 2023 as compared to 1931. "There is a decrease. However, there is no logical reason behind the dip. The government needs to take a look at the process to see if there were any mistake in caste census methodology," he said.
Actually, according to the caste based survey report, the total population of Bihar is more than 13 crores. Under the unreserved category, the population of Bhumihar caste is 2.89 percent, Rajput population is 3.45 percent, Brahmin population is 3.66 percent and Kayastha caste population is 0.60 percent. 63 percent is OBC, of which 24 percent is backward class and 36 percent is extremely backward class. At the same time, the Scheduled Caste population is 19 percent and the Scheduled Tribe population is 1.68 percent. Yadav caste is the largest in Bihar, whose population is more than 14 percent. At the same time, Kurmi are 2.8 percent and Kushwaha are 4.2 percent, while the population of Muslims is 17.7 percent.
