‘36.76% of households in Bihar have concrete houses with two or more rooms’
36.76% of households in Bihar have concrete houses (2+ rooms), 22.37% have concrete houses (1 room), 26.54% have tin shed houses, and 14.09% live in huts. Only 0.24% are homeless.
Of the total 2.76 crore households in Bihar, 1.01 crore, or 36.76%, have concrete houses (of two or more than two rooms) , 22.37% (61.89 lakh) families have concrete houses (with one room), 26.54% or 73.44 lakh have tile/tin shed houses while 14.09% or 38.99 lakh families live in huts, according to the socio-economic data from the caste survey report tabled in the state assembly on Tuesday.
Only 0.24 %, or 63,840 households, in the state are homeless.
In terms of caste groups, the survey report reveals that 51.54%, or 22.30 lakh families of the total 43.28 lakh families from general category (seven upper castes), have concrete houses (two or more than two rooms) while 43.47% or 32.49 families of total 74.73 lakh families from backward classes have concrete house (two or more than two rooms.
Among EBCs (extremely backward classes), 32.61%, or 32.22 families out of total 98.84 lakh families, have concrete houses (two or more than two rooms).
Among scheduled caste groups, 24.26% or 13.27 lakh families out of total 54.72 lakh families have concrete houses (two or more than two rooms) while among scheduled tribe groups, 25.81% or 1.21 lakh families of the total 4.70 lakh families have concrete houses.
In concrete houses (with one room), the scheduled caste group is slightly better off than other groups, including upper castes. The report says 23.69% or 12.96 lakh of the total 54.72 lakh families in the SC category have one-room houses, followed by 22.96% or 22.69 lakh families of the 98.84 lakh families from EBCs groups. Among the upper castes, of the total 43.28 lakh families, 22.95% or 9.93 lakh have one room concrete houses while among backward classes, 20.65% or 15.43 lakh families of the total 74.73 families have one room concrete houses.
In the category of tiled roof houses/tin shed houses, families from EBCs, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes outnumber upper castes and backward classes.
The report reveals that 28.71% or 28.37 lakh families of the total 98.84 lakh families from EBCs (comprising 112 caste groups) live in tiled roof/ tin shed houses, followed by 28.34% or 15.50 lakh families of the total 54.72 lakh families from scheduled castes. In the scheduled tribe category, a staggering 40.96% or 1.92 lakh families of the total 4.70 lakh families live in tiled roof /tin shed houses, the report says.
Among those living in huts, the highest number of people belong to scheduled caste groups, with 23.45% families of the total 54.72 lakh households, followed by 16.08% families from scheduled tribe. Only 5.89 % or 2.54 lakh families from general category out of total 43.28 lakh families in this group live in huts in the state.
Talking of the homeless, 13,303 families from the general category (0.31% of total 43.28 lakh families) own no house in the state, followed by 0.28% from scheduled tribes, 0.26% from scheduled castes, 0.23% from EBCs, 0.16% from other backward classes.
Coming to caste groups, it’s a mixed bag. Among upper castes, 69.37% of Kayasthas (1.18 lakh families out of total 1.70 lakh) have concrete houses (with two or more rooms), followed by Bhumihars (61.72% or 5.17 lakh families out of 8.38 lakh), Rajputs (59.28% or 5.65 lakh families out of total 9.53 lakh) and Brahmins (53.24% or 5.73 lakh families out of total 10.76 lakh).
Among Muslim upper castes, Syed, Pathan and Sheikh, 56% of Syeds have concrete houses with two or more rooms, followed by Pathans (50.05%) and Sheikhs (31.51%).
Among backward classes, 41.41% of Yadav households (15.97 families of the total 38.58 lakh) have concrete houses (two or more rooms), lagging behind Kushwahas (49.78% or 5.89 lakh families of the total 11.83 lakh) and Kurmis (50.36% or 4.06 lakh families of the total 8.07 lakh).
Baniyas are better off, with 58.16% or 3.79 lakh families of the total 6.53 lakh families having concrete houses (two or more rooms).
Among EBCs, above 20% of the surveyed families from castes like Dhanuk, Kanu, Teli, Chandravansi , Prajapati (Kumhar), Kamar, Bind, Barahi and Idrishi or Darzi (Muslim) have concrete houses with two or more than two rooms.
Among scheduled castes, groups having concrete houses include Dhobi, Rajak (37.91%) and Pasi ( 51.96%).
How Bihar lives
Concrete houses (2+ rooms): 36.76%
Concrete houses (one room): 22.37%
Tin shed houses: 26.54%
Huts: 14.09%
Homeless: 0.24%
Source: Caste survey report