Editorial. The political implications of Bihar’s caste survey

The release of the caste survey in Bihar is significant for what it reveals, and what it does not. The first instalment has been released, which reveals the caste population. But the second and arguably more significant part of the data, which is the socio-economic profile of each of these castes, has not yet been put out. It is important to note that caste numbers per se are politically significant for those who want to push or oppose quotas; but if the numbers are seen together with socio-economic indicators such as the land owned by each of the castes, their educational status, assets owned, incomes etc., they could impact policymaking in a much broader, meaningful sense.

By releasing only the first instalment of the data, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has revealed that his basic aim is to spin the political discourse at the State and national level. The data sets reveal that the biggest numerical group are the backward classes constituting a staggering 63 per cent of the State’s population and includes the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at 27.13 per cent and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) at 36 per cent. EBCs are a category on whom Nitish Kumar has invested a substantive part of his political career. Simultaneously, among the backward classes, Yadavs, the caste to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav belongs, have been found to be the biggest numerical group accounting for 14.27 per cent of the total population. Dalits, or the Scheduled Castes (SCs) account for 19.65 per cent of the total population while the Scheduled Tribes are 1.68 per cent. Those belonging to the “upper castes”, who form a large part of the BJP’s support base, comprise 10.6 per cent. Of these, Brahmins are 3.65 per cent, Rajputs 3.45 per cent, Bhumihars 2.9 per cent and Kayasthas are 0.60 per cent. 

It appears that the Bihar CM, along with his allies in the Opposition INDIA coalition, want to counter the BJP’s Hindu identity pitch which subsumes castes, by resurrecting the OBC plank. A political takeaway from the caste census is the demand that the 27 per cent OBC quota in government jobs and generally speaking in educational institutions, should be expanded to breach the 50 per cent quota cap. This campaign thrust, a throwback to the early 1990s, may drown out endemic developmental issues arising out of the socio-economic profile of the castes.

When Nitish Kumar first assumed power in the early 2000s, he adopted a different approach to deprivation. He set up a panel under former Foreign Secretary Muchkund Dubey for overhauling Bihar’s education and set up a common school system. But its views were given a quiet burial just like those of the D Bandyopadhyay panel on land reforms. Socio-economic data on caste can hold governments to account for promises made to their support base. In its absence, narrow caste politics may replace an agenda for empowerment.

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