Nitish Kumar has said all parties in Bihar support the caste survey.
Patna:
A caste-based survey being conducted by the Bihar government, championed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as a move to help the disadvantaged, was put on hold by the Patna High Court on Thursday.
Mr Kumar had defended the survey earlier this morning, arguing that all political parties in the state supported its implementation.
The survey, which sought to collect data on both the economic status and caste of Bihar residents, has faced opposition from critics who claim it amounts to a house-to-house census, which only the central government has the authority to conduct.
Mr Kumar has expressed frustration with the opposition to the survey, which he said will greatly benefit residents by enabling the government to better target assistance to those in need.
The survey, he said, would help identify the number of impoverished individuals and the types of interventions required to bring them into the mainstream.
The first round of the caste survey in Bihar took place between January 7 and 21, with the second round scheduled to run from April 15 to May 15.
This comes amid a debate over a caste census in India has intensified in recent months, as several political parties and leaders have urged the central government to count members of historically marginalised communities in the next census.
The central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, has rejected the demand for a caste census, saying it is against its policy and that it would lead to social fragmentation and caste enmities.
The party is also accused of being afraid that a caste census could reveal the dominance of upper castes in politics and bureaucracy, and undermine its efforts to consolidate the Hindu vote across caste lines.
However, proponents of a caste census argue that it is necessary to formulate policies and allocate resources for the welfare and empowerment of so-called “lower castes”, who face discrimination and deprivation in various spheres of life.
They also claim that a caste census would reflect the diversity and reality of Indian society, and help in addressing the grievances and aspirations of different castes.
The demand for a caste census is not new. It has been raised before almost every census since independence, but only Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), who are at the bottom of the caste hierarchy, have been counted. The last time a full caste census was conducted was in 1931, during the British colonial rule.
The current debate on caste census has also been influenced by the recent Supreme Court judgment that allowed states to exceed the 50% cap on reservations for SCs, STs and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in exceptional circumstances. This has prompted some states to demand more data on OBCs to justify their quota policies.
Source link: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/patna-high-court-puts-on-hold-bihar-governments-caste-based-survey-4004374