On 7th November (Tuesday), Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar presented a detailed report of the caste-based census in the Legislative Assembly. During the discussion on this matter, he proposed to raise the ceiling of reservations in the state from 50% to 75%. Out of this, 65% would be allocated for caste-based reservation while 10% would be for the Centre’s mandated reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
While tabling the detailed caste census report in the state assembly, he said, “Quotas for Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes need to be raised. We will do the needful after due consultations. It is our intent to effect these changes in the current session.” However, the three per cent quota for OBC women could be scrapped, as reported by NDTV.
As per this proposal, the current reservation for SC which stands at 16%, could be increased to 20%. Meanwhile, the reservation for ST, currently at 1%, could be raised to 2%. Additionally, a combined reservation of 43% could be allocated for EBC (Extremely Backward Classes) and OBC (Other Backward Classes), as per the proposal.
It is important to note that his proposal comes two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched scathing attacks on the Nitish-Kumar-led Bihar government. Back then, he asserted that the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government had deliberately inflated the population of Muslims and Yadavs as part of its “appeasement politics”.
Strikingly, Yadavs and Muslims are considered the core voter base of the incumbent alliance in Bihar. According to the caste survey, Yadavs have the highest population among OBCs and comprise 14.26 percent of Bihar’s population.
Further, 36 percent of the Bihar population i.e. 13.1 crore people falls in the EBCs categorisation, Backward Classes comprise 27.1 percent population, and 19.7 percent of the state’s population hail from Scheduled Castes. Scheduled Tribes make up 1.7 percent of the population, and the General Category is 15.5 percent, as per the findings of the Bihar Caste Census.
The preliminary findings of the Bihar caste Census were released earlier on 2nd October. It revealed that approximately 63% of the state population falls in the backward and extremely backward classes.
Meanwhile, more data, released earlier today, revealed that approximately 34 percent of all families in the state survive on less than ₹ 6,000 per month. Moreover, around 42 percent of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe families live in poverty.
