Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday declared that he intends to raise quotas for Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the state, stating that legislation to the effect is likely to be brought in the ongoing assembly session. The announcement came during a discussion on the report of the Bihar government’s caste-based survey which was tabled in the Assembly today.
Addressing the Assembly, Kumar said that the quota for SCs and STs, which cumulatively stands at 17 per cent, should be raised to 22 per cent while the quota for OBCs should be increased from the prevailing 50 per cent to 65 per cent.
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This excludes the Centre’s 10 per cent reservation for individuals from economically weaker sections, the Chief Minister clarified, adding that the cumulative seats available for the general category would drop from 40 per cent to 25 per cent. Notably, the Supreme Court has capped the quota in jobs and admissions etc. at 50 per cent.
The caste survey, portions of which were made public by the Bihar government on October 2, pegged OBCs, including the Extremely Backward Classes sub-group, at a staggering 63 per cent of the state’s population. SCs and STs, on the other hand, accounted for a little over 21 per cent.
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“We will do the needful after due consultations. We intend to bring in the required legislation in the ongoing session,” Kumar said on the second day of the five-day-long winter session. The Chief Minister said that his government is planning to provide assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the 94 lakh poor families who live on less than Rs 6,000 a month for taking up some form of economically productive work.
As per the report, over a third of families in Bihar live on a monthly income of Rs 6,000 or less, while the percentage of SC-ST families living on a similar income is nearly 43 per cent.
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Nitish Kumar counters Amit Shah
Addressing the state Assembly on Tuesday, Kumar dismissed apprehensions around the accuracy of the findings of the report as “bogus. Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed at a rally in Muzaffarpur two days ago that the caste survey had “inflated” numbers of the Yadav and Muslim population and said it would have an adverse impact on other backward classes.
Reacting to the claim, Kumar said that such allegations are “bogus” and must be avoided. “Some say figures of particular communities have been inflated, to the detriment of other castes. These are bogus allegations and must be avoided.”
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Shah had also accused Kumar of acting under pressure from RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav whose party draws maximum support from the Yadavs and Muslims. In a rejoinder to the allegations, Kumar, in his defence, said that even Kurmis, his own caste, turned out to be a smaller percentage of the total population than what was believed.
“We only had assumptions, no concrete data to estimate the population of respective groups before this survey. The last time a caste headcount was done was in the 1931 census. Moreover, we must also understand that fertility rates are declining following our fillip to female education. In social segments where this change is more pronounced, there will be a decline in population proportion,” the chief minister said, adding that his government would send a copy of the report to the Centre, seeking extra assistance for undertaking measures targeted at vulnerable sections of the society.
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Nitish demands special status for Bihar, nationwide caste census
Kumar also used the occasion to renew his demand for the Centre to accord special category status to Bihar. Kumar, who parted ways with the BJP-led NDA to join forces with the RJD-Congress-CPI combine in August last year, has promised the special status to “all” backward provinces, if the combined opposition, now known as the ‘INDIA’ coalition, came to power at the Centre.
“We have estimated that the state will have to bear an additional burden of Rs 2.51 lakh crore to improve the lot of the poor. The survey says 94 lakh families in Bihar are poor, surviving on a monthly income of Rs 6,000 or less,” he said, adding that one of the proposals mooted by his government is to provide an assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to poor families for taking up some form of economically productive work.
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Besides, the government also plans to give Rs 1 lakh to each family identified as having no house to live in for the construction of habitats, the chief minister said. “If we get the special status, we will be able to achieve our goals in two to three years. Otherwise, it may take much longer”, said Kumar, who spoke for nearly 45 minutes in the presence of RJD leader and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav by his side.
Kumar expressed hope that the survey would compel the Centre to reconsider the request for a nationwide census, which he had made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi two years ago when he called on the latter leading an all-party delegation from Bihar. “We were told the request could not be accepted but states were free to undertake a survey if the need for it was felt strongly. The census, which should have been completed by now, has not yet begun. The Centre can consider a headcount of castes as part of the census,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)