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Jharkhand is ready to conduct a caste survey, says Champai Soren
Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren on Sunday announced a caste survey to enumerate the state’s caste composition, with officials indicating that the exercise will be held after the Lok Sabha elections in April-May.
Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren on Sunday announced a caste survey to enumerate the state’s caste composition, with officials indicating that the exercise will be held after the Lok Sabha elections in April-May.
With this, Jharkhand will become the fourth state to hold such a caste-based headcount after Telangana, which announced a similar move on Friday, and Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.
“Jiski jitni sankhya bhari, uski utni hissedari (bigger the population, bigger the share). Jharkhand is ready,” the chief minister posted on X while sharing a news report on the matter.
Soren’s principal secretary Vinay Kumar Choubey also confirmed the survey, saying the “plan has been principally approved”. “Earlier, it was not decided who would carry out the work, i.e, the rural development department or personnel department. Now it has been decided that the work will be done by the personnel department,” he said.
Asked if the government has set any deadline for the completion of the exercise, the senior IAS officer said: “It will be too early to give any deadline. The personnel department has to prepare a standard operating procedure (SoP) for the work.”
He added: “Besides this, the (Lok Sabha) elections are near. Soon the Model Code of Conduct will be enforced and getting the survey work done will not be possible.”
Choubey said “the survey will be held on the lines of neighbouring Bihar”.
According to a senior leader of the Congress, which is a part of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led alliance, the decision was not taken all of a sudden. “Earlier, the Hemant Soren government was also in favour of conducting a caste survey, but it was not clear who would conduct it,” the leader said, seeking anonymity.
The Bihar caste survey – the first in independent India to successfully enumerate all castes – last year found that OBCs comprise 63.13% of the state, SCs formed 19.65% and STs 1.68%. “Upper” castes were found to be 15.52% of the population.
Subsequently, the Bihar government hiked reservations to 75% in government jobs and education. Challenges to the survey are pending before the Supreme Court.
On January 19, the Andhra Pradesh government kickstarted an exercise aimed at creating a comprehensive database of people based on their castes.
The Telangana assembly on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution for a comprehensive household caste survey to provide socio-economic, educational, employment and political opportunities to Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and other weaker sections of the state.
