"It is the sub-caste census:" Union Minister Kaushal Kishore
Oct 08, 2023
New Delhi [India], October 8 : Union Minister Kaushal Kishore on Sunday took a swipe at the Bihar Government for releasing the caste survey data, saying that it is a 'sub-caste census'.
Talking to ANI, Kaushal Kishore said that the Bihar government is trying to 'fool' the people of the state.
"...Whenever there is a census, there is also a calculation of caste and religion...According to the census, reservations have been given to SC, ST, and OBC...What they are calling a caste-based census in Bihar is not a caste-based census but a sub-caste census...Prime Minister Modi has said that we are with the poor community...They are trying to fool people..." the union minister said.
Notably, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition bloc INDIA engaged in a war of words after the Bihar caste survey was released by the state government on Monday, revealing that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) constitute more than 63 per cent of the population of Bihar.
With the parties of the INDIA bloc welcoming the report on caste in Bihar, the chorus for nationwide caste-based data has grown.
The findings from Bihar, one of the country's politically significant states, have the potential to upend the country's politics, with demands being made for a similar nationwide census.
According to the data released on October 2, Scheduled Castes make up 19.65 per cent and the Scheduled Tribes 1.68 per cent of the population of the state.
The data also said that the Hindus comprise 81.99 per cent of the population, Muslims 17.7 per cent, Christians 0.05 per cent, Sikhs 0.01 per cent, Buddhists 0.08 per cent and other religions 0.12 per cent. The data said that Yadavs, the OBC group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs, is the largest and accounts for 14.27 per cent of the state's population.
Kushwaha and Kurmi's communities form 4.27 per cent and 2.87 per cent of the population, the caste survey said. Bhumihars constitute 2.86 per cent of the population, Brahmins 3.66 per cent, Kurmis 2.87 per cent, and Musahars 3 per cent.
The numbers stand in contrast to the quantum of reservations, which is 27 per cent that the OBC population gets in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions.
Notably, the total population of Bihar is more than 13 crore.
