Caste survey done scientifically. No need for review, says top Bihar official

Bihar chief secretary Amir Subhani‘s statement comes against the backdrop of attempts by some political leaders to question the caste survey data released by the Bihar government

PATNA: There is no need to review Bihar’s caste data collected by the state government-mandated survey, a top government official said on Monday, rejecting multiple efforts to question the integrity of the data collected by surveyors during the caste survey.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar listening to the problems of people during 'Janata Ka Darbar' programme at CM Secretariat in Patna on Monday (HT Photo/Santosh Kumar)

“The need for any review of the caste survey data has not been felt by the government. The first ever survey of this kind and magnitude has been scientifically done,” Bihar chief secretary Amir Subhani told Hindustan Times on Monday.

Subhani’s statement comes against the backdrop of attempts by some political leaders to question the data released by the state government; some even alleged a deliberate attempt to manipulate the data to suit the Nitish Kumar government’s politics.

On Sunday Rashtriya Janata Dal MLC Ram Bali Singh alleged the caste survey data had been manipulated to suit political interests. “There seems to be a political conspiracy in it,” Singh said, challenging the government to publish ward-wise data. “This will expose the manipulation done sitting in the office to increase the figures of certain caste groups,” he said, echoing a charge also levelled by JD-U MP from Sitamarhi, Sunil Kumar Pintu.

Pintu has insisted that the population of the Teli-Sahu castes should be significantly higher than 2.81%, shown in the survey data.

According to the first tranche of data from the caste survey, extremely backward communities constituted 36.01% of the population, and backward classes made up another 27.12%. Together, the other backward classes (OBC) — the umbrella group that consists of backward classes and extremely backward classes (EBCs) in the state — were 63.13% of the population.

The data has the potential to radically change heartland politics and propel caste into the core of the electoral discourse in the 2024 polls. To be sure, the data on other socioeconomic parameters collected — 17 criteria ranging from employment, education and marital status to land holding and property ownership were part of the survey’s questionnaire — has not been released yet. This data could be crucial in understanding how castes are benefitting from reservations, and how intra-caste bloc divisions are evolving.

A senior official of the general administration department (GAD), who did not want to be named, said that the government had compiled the data from across the state and the second stage findings would be released by the government at an appropriate time.