Bihar: War of words over caste survey report in assembly

A discussion on caste survey report tabled in Bihar assembly on Tuesday turned into a sparring session between the Treasury and the Opposition with both claiming credit for the exercise.

Patna, Nov 7: A discussion on the caste survey report tabled in the Bihar assembly on Tuesday turned into a sparring session between the Treasury and the Opposition with both claiming credit for the exercise.

Government Claims Credit

Tabling the report, Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said, "The successful completion of the caste survey exercise is a great achievement of the Mahagathbandhan government. The Centre must learn lessons from us."

Opposition Claims Credit

Soon after, the leader of the opposition in the assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha, claimed, "The foundation of this caste survey was laid during the NDA regime in the state. BJP has always been in favour of the people's welfare."

Taking a dig at the government, he said, "But the report was loaded with discrepancies. Why didn't the government provide any information on the unemployed? Questions are also being raised on the figures of Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs). If the grand alliance government is really concerned about EBCs, they should appoint someone from this group as CM or deputy CM," Sinha argued.

Discrepancies in the Report

Senior BJP MLA Nand Kishore Yadav also claimed that the decision to conduct the caste survey was taken during the NDA regime in the state. "There are several discrepancies in the report that need to be explained. First of all, the figures should have been given panchayat-wise," he said.

He also took a dig at the government over the rise in the literacy rate. "The report says 9.19 per cent of the state's total population has passed class 12. Similarly, 6.11 per cent of the state's population are graduates. How will the government fill job vacancies with these figures?" questioned Yadav.

Manjhi Alleges Incorrect Statistics

Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi also hit out at the grand alliance government alleging incorrect statistics. "We want to thank CM Nitish Kumar for the caste survey. According to the report, over 45 per cent of the Musahar community and 46 per cent of the Bhuiya community are affluent. I ask minister Chaudhary to visit a village from where the data was collected along with me. If we find more than one per cent of Musahar and Bhuiya communities wealthy, I will quit politics," Manjhi said.

CPI(ML) MLA Demands Data on Landless People

Participating in the discussion, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation MLA Ajit Kushwaha said, "We all thank the grand alliance government and our chief minister for bringing this report. But, where's the data on landless people?"

The discussion on the caste survey report in the Bihar assembly turned into a sparring session between the Treasury and the Opposition, with both sides claiming credit for the exercise. While the government highlighted the successful completion of the survey, the opposition pointed out discrepancies in the report and demanded more data.