PATNA: On a day the much-awaited caste survey report was tabled in the Bihar Assembly, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced his intention to hike the quota cap for the SC/STs and OBCs, including the extremely backward classes (EBCs), from the Supreme Court-mandated 50% to 65%.
The decision was based on empirical evidence from the caste survey, which put the SC/ ST population at a little over 21% and that of OBCs plus EBCs at 63%. With Nitish quantifying the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in Bihar at 10%, the total quota count will reach 75%.
After the announcement, Nitish chaired a cabinet meeting, which approved four proposals, including hike in reservation in government jobs and educational institutes. A bill to hike the quota will be introduced in the Assembly on November 9. It will propose raising the SC quota to 20%, STs 2%, OBCs 18%, EBCs 25% and EWS 10%.
According to the survey, the monthly income of Bihar’s 34.13% families is just Rs 6,000. The number of families in the Rs 6,000-10,000 income bracket is 29.61%. In other words, the number of families with an income of up to Rs 10,000 per month is more than 63%. In all, 94 lakh families have a monthly income of Rs 6,000 or less.
The Nitish government is planning to provide Rs 2 lakh each to these poor families to take up some sort of economically productive work. The pro-poor assistance would entail an additional burden of Rs 2.51 lakh crore on the exchequer, Nitish said. Within the SC/ST population, 42.93% of SC families and 42.72% of STs are poor. Similarly, 33.16% of the OBCs and 33.58% EBC families are poor.
In the general category, the survey found a higher percentage of poor people — 25.32% families as against 23.72% from other castes. Of the poor in the general category, 27.58% are Bhumihars, 25.3% Brahmins, 24.89% Rajputs and 13.83% Kayashthas. Among Muslims, 25.84% of Sheikhs, 22.2% Pathans (Khan) and 17.61% Sayyids are poor. Only 7% people of Bihar are graduates while 22.67% students are in classes I to V and 9.19% in classes XI and XII.
Inflated data claim bogus, says Nitish
In an apparent response to Union home minister Amit Shah’s recent allegation at a rally in Muzaffarpur district, Nitish said, “Some say figures of particular communities have been inflated, to the detriment of other castes. These are bogus allegations and must be avoided.”