New Delhi: The second tranche of data from Bihar’s caste-based survey found that 34 per cent of the state’s households were poor, i.e. they earned less than Rs 6,000 a month.
Placing the figures in the Bihar Assembly Tuesday, the Nitish Kumar-led government told lawmakers that over 50 lakh Biharis lived outside the state for their livelihood and education.
The data showed that 29.61 percent survived on Rs 10,000 or less, while nearly 28 percent lived on income between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000. Less than four per cent earned over Rs 50,000 per month, said reports.
The Bihar government also Tuesday revealed its findings on the economic conditions of 215 Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes.
According to the report, over 42 percent of Bihar’s SC families were poor, while that number stood at 42.7 per cent among STs.
The report said 33.16 percent from Other Backward Classes (OBCs) were below the poverty line, with a marginally higher 33.58 per cent in the extremely backward category.
Poor people in other castes amounted to 23.72 per cent, while that in the general category was 25 per cent, said media reports.
Of those surveyed, the report said, less than 6 percent of SCs had finished school education — that means Class 11 and Class 12 — while the state average stood at 9 percent.
Bihar minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary also informed the Assembly Tuesday that the state’s literacy rate was 79.70 percent, while that among women was higher than men.
Bihar caste survey’s first set of numbers
The caste survey in Bihar — the first in the country since 1931 — has triggered demands for a nationwide study to determine the people’s economic status, which the ruling BJP has so far rejected.
There is underlying anxiety in the party that such data may embolden marginal castes to demand more reservation which may upset its generally upper-caste vote bank.
On 2 October, the Bihar government had released the first set of numbers from its survey which revealed that other backward and extremely backward classes constitute 63 percent of the state’s population of 13 crores.
Of this, 36.01 percent belonged to the extreme backward classes and 27.13 percent to OBCs. Yadavs formed a little over 14 per cent.
Nineteen per cent were from the scheduled castes, and a little over 15 percent belonged to the general category in the state — of which Brahmins and Rajputs together made up 7 percent.
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