Bihar Caste Census: SC To Hear Plea On October 6

The Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that it will consider a plea related to the Bihar caste census on the 6th of October. The plea is in objection to the Bihar government's caste survey which was made public on Monday; it reportedly contravenes the top court's ruling on privacy.

Additional chief secretary of Bihar Vivek Kumar Singh on Monday said, "Backward class in Bihar is 27.13 percent. The extremely backward class is 36.01 percent, General category is 15.52 percent. The total population of Bihar is more than 13 crore."

According to the survey, a considerable majority of Bihar's population is Hindu, making up 81.99 percent of the total, while Muslims account for the next largest group at 17.70 percent.

According to the data, the Unreserved category denotes the proverbial upper castes comprise 15.52 percent of the total population.

Bihar's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar highlighted that the legislature unanimously approved the motion for caste-based counting.

"It was decided with the consent of all the 9 parties of Bihar Assembly that the state government will conduct caste-based census from its own resources and its approval was given from the Council of Ministers on 02-06-2022. On this basis, the state government has conducted caste-based census from its own resources."

He asserted that the census based on caste not only uncovered the various caste categories but also provided insights into everyone's economic status. The Bihar CM also emphasized that additional measures will be pursued to foster progress and improvement across all societal segments.

The caste census, opposed by the BJP-led NDA government, is at a vital point before the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. It could potentially fuel calls for a similar caste-focused census in other places, which is a priority for the opposition INDIA bloc.

The study began last year after the Narendra Modi-led central government stated it couldn't incorporate a caste-based demographic tally for groups other than the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the country's census.