Bihar’s caste-based survey, the second leg of which kicks off on April 15, will provide an insight into the socio-economic condition and literacy level of its nearly 13 crore population, residing in 3 crore households, and also a peek into the state’s backwardness, said officials familiar with the survey.
The first leg of the survey, to mark the households and list the name of heads of families and count the number of family members, was held between January 7 and 21.
Over 3.04 lakh enumerators will now ask respondents 17 questions, including caste among the 203 notified castes in Bihar, during the month-long second phase of the survey.
Among the questions to judge the socio-economic parameters are educational qualifications (pre-primary to post master’s degree), profession, ownership of computer/laptop (with or without internet connectivity), motor vehicle (two-wheeler, three-wheeler, four-wheeler, six-wheeler or more, tractor), agricultural land, residential land, monthly income (ranging from a minimum 0- ₹6,000 to a maximum ₹50,000 and above), and residential condition (pucca/thatched house, hutment or homeless).
Option for profession ranges from government to private job in organised or unorganised sector, self-employed, farmer (owner of farm land), agricultural labourer, construction labourer, other labourer, skilled labourer, beggar, rag-picker, student, housewife to those having no work.
The government will also get an idea about the temporary migration status when enumerators ask respondents about their place of work or study, whether within or outside state, country or abroad.
Those owning agricultural land have to specify the area from 0-50 decimals to 5 acres and above. Hundred decimals make one acre of land.
Those having residential land have to specify the area from 5 decimals land to 20 decimals and above. Another option is flat owner in a multi-storied apartment.
While all 17 questions are mandatory, filling one’s Aadhaar number and ration card number, are optional, said officials.
Caste classification
Some among the 203 castes in Bihar have been notified as early as 1950-51, while others have been added through various Acts and gazette notifications of the state and the Centre, based on the recommendations of caste commissions and surveys commissioned over the years, officials said.
As per the state government notifications, Bihar has 112 extremely backward castes (EBC), 30 backward castes (BC) and seven forward castes and the Centre has notified 32 Scheduled Tribes and 22 Scheduled Castes for Bihar. All these castes have been listed for the survey.
Among the seven forward castes, four belonging to the Hindus are Brahmin, Rajput, Bhumihar and Kayastha, and three among the Muslims include Syed, Sheikh and Pathan (Khan).
The remaining 196 castes come under the reserved category, said officials familiar with the classification of castes in the state.
In addition, there are 11 castes district magistrates (DMs) have reported to exist in their respective districts to the General Administration Department (GAD), which is piloting the caste-based survey.
As such, the 11 castes have been bracketed under the category of “others”. These include Bengali Kayastha, Khatri, Dharaami, Sutihar, Navesood, Bhumij, Marwari, Bahelia, Rastogi, Kewani and Darzi among Hindus, which includes Srivastava, Lal and Lala.
‘Bania’, classified as a backward caste in Bihar, has the maximum sub-castes such as Sundi, Modak/Maira, Roniar, Pansari, Modi and Kasera.
“Education aspiration is more among the Banias, as compared to most among the backward and extremely backward castes in Bihar. They are also believed to be economically well off, and the process of upliftment is faster among them,” said Gyanendra Yadav, 59, an associate professor of sociology, College of Commerce, Patna.
Gwala, Ahir, Gora, Ghasi, Mehar, Sadgop and Lakshmi Narain Gola are bracketed as “Yadav”, also a backward caste in Bihar.
“Though Yadavs are essentially believed to be engaged in cow rearing and dairy activity, education outlook among them is fast changing, and they are coming out of their perceived caste occupation. Some among them have also begun to work as labourers. The change, however, is not uniform and much slow. Stagnancy is more among Yadavs and the process of uplift is not fast as compared to other backward castes like the Banias,” added Yadav.
“Jat” among Muslims in Madhubani, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, Khagaria and Araria districts also figure in the backward caste list.
Kewat (Kaut), Chandrabansi (Kahar, Kamkar), Dhanuk, Nai, Pal (Bherihar, Gareri), Bind, Mallah, Nut (Muslim), Bhat (Muslim), Barhi, Haluwai, Rajbanshi (Risia/Deshiya or Polia), Awadh Bania, Barari, Tamoli (Chaurasia), Teli and Dangi, to mention a few, make up the 112 caste groups under the EBC, said officials.
“Different castes have different pattern. The socio-economic parameters will vary as per caste, and those of the EBCs and the BCs will be less as compared to the privileged class or those having landed property,” said Yadav.
Logistics of the exercise
This is the biggest information technology (IT)-based exercise Bihar will embark on when over 3 lakh enumerators will simultaneously access Microsoft OS (operating system) platform in offline mode, with auto-synchronisation of data on cloud server, on availability of internet connectivity through their Android cellphones to upload the 17-point question of 13 crore people during the second phase of the population-based caste survey.
The Beltron, a government agency providing IT support, has hired the services of a Maharashtra-based private firm to develop the mobile app, which will soon be available on Google Play. It will host the data on cloud.
The pre-test was done across 294 enumeration blocks in six blocks and one municipal corporation across seven districts of Bihar on March 12, said officials.
“Stability of server, when over 3 lakh enumerators access it online during the month-long exercise from April 15, is the biggest challenge we face,” said a senior officer requesting anonymity.
The training of personnel, which began on March 13, will continue till April 11.
Every enumerator has been given a target to reach out to 150 households. Every enumerator will be paid a remuneration of ₹10,000, including ₹2,500 for mobile expense.
Given the political ramifications of the caste-based survey, officials were not willing to come on record.
“I am not authorised to speak to the media,” said Md Sohail, secretary of the general administration department. He guided this reporter to the department’s principal secretary B. Rajender, who was not available for comment either.
Politics behind caste survey
Bihar’s move to go ahead with caste-based survey, after the Centre refused a caste census, was challenged in the Supreme Court.
The ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) have been at the forefront of demanding a caste census. They /have argued that a scientific counting of caste groups would help governments broaden the scope of development goals. Moreover, it will eventually lead to greater participation of under-represented and unrepresented caste groups in mainstream economy and polity.
However, observers say the exercise may emerge as a potent tool to redefine caste-based politics in the coming Lok Sabha election in 2024 and Assembly polls in 2025.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who dumped the BJP and joined hands with the RJD in August last year, has been an ardent advocate of it.
When Kumar initiated the demand for caste census, he had said the caste-based headcount will give a proper estimate of the poverty levels among communities, and that it will help it “in deciding what can be done for them and their localities”.
In 2011-12, a caste count (the Socio-Economic Caste Census) was conducted after the general Census in 2011, but its data was never released.
Currently, Bihar has 18% reservation in jobs for EBCs, 16% for SCs, 12% for BCs, 3% for women among backward castes and 1% for ST.
The state cabinet had, on June 2, 2022, approved the caste-based survey, which is estimated to cost ₹500 crore. The state will meet this expenditure from the Bihar contingency fund.
What experts say
“The survey is almost a replica of the Socio-Economic Caste Census, conducted by the ministry of rural development in 2011-12, whose data the UPA government at the Centre chose not to release,” said DM Diwakar, 67, a social scientist and former director of Patna’s AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies.
“No data is bad provided the government has the political will to use it positively for the development of its people. In a democracy, data is very important for objective analysis. If you put the data in public domain, it can generate a public debate and people’s perception comes out through debates of what is required and what the government should do, thus providing a feedback to the government,” he said.
Yadav from College of Commerce said the caste-based survey will provide an insight into the socio-economic parameters and also insight on why people of the backward castes are still backward. “This would be important input for government to work for their upliftment,” he added.
Headline: The caste cauldron
Intro: The ongoing survey will cover nearly 13 crore people in 3 crore households
203: Total number of castes in Bihar
196: No. of castes in reserved category
7: Number of forward castes (Hindus: 4; Muslims: 3)
Forward castes
Hindus: Brahmin, Rajput, Bhumihar and Kayastha
Muslims: Syed, Sheikh and Pathan (Khan)
Current quota in Bihar
Total: 50%
18%: For EBCs (extremely backward castes)
16%: Scheduled castes
12%: Backward castes
3%: Women among backward castes
1%: Scheduled tribes
