Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 7: For the first time in the country, a caste-based “headcount” was launched in Bihar on Saturday which the chief minister Nitish Kumar claimed would give a fillip to the developmental works.
Bihar had been advocating for a cast-based census for several years but the BJP government at the centre had rejected the suggestion though it agreed to allow the states to carry such an operation on if desired.
“The purpose of the exercise is to get a clear estimate of the financial situation of all communities, to aid in developmental work,” the chief minister said. “We have demanded since the beginning that caste-based census should be conducted across the country so that there’s information about the status of people from different castes to work on their upliftment,” he maintained.
Terming the caste-based head count a “historic step,” the deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said the exercise would provide scientific data for carrying out welfare schemes for weaker sections of the society.
Mr Kumar said all parties in Bihar sat together and decided this. “We went to meet the Prime Minister, and all of us presented our views. The Centre said it won’t do a caste-based census, and if a state wants to do it, it’s free to. States can’t conduct a census, so we are doing a ‘Jaati Aadharit Ganana’ (caste-based headcount),” he added.
On the procedure, and arrangements, Nitish Kumar said all officials involved in the mammoth exercise were properly trained, and a good number of people have been brought in for it.
“We have asked all officials that every single person should be counted properly. Some people are living in cities, some others out of state, all the information should be properly recorded,” he said.
The Chief Minister further stressed that the financial status of every family, be it from any caste or community, will also be recorded. “We want to do this so that there’s a proper estimate of the financial condition of families from all communities, which will help in deciding what can be done for them, and their localities,” Mr Kumar said.
The Bihar Chief Minister said the state government’s intention is clear — it wants a full picture of the financial situation of every individual so that it can more effectively target development work, and also give the Centre proper data on the state for its “sabka sath, sabka vikas (everyone’s support, everyone’s development)” vision. “If there’s poverty in a state, you will eradicate it, right?” he added.
- Otherwise, we will at least give them a clear picture of poverty in our state,” he said.” The full report will give us a clearer picture, which we will publish, circulate, and also send to the Centre. If they think this is good for the entire country, then they will do it. Otherwise, we will at least give them a clear picture of poverty in our state,” he said.
Tejashwi Yadav while pointing out that all the parties in the ruling “Mahagathbandhan” were in favour of caste-based census claimed that the BJP was “critical” about the survey. “The enumeration exercise began in Bihar from today. It is a historic step taken by the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government in the State. Once the exercise is completed, it will provide scientific data to the state government for carrying out developmental work for people, including those who are deprived,” Mr. Yadav said. He also said, “The BJP is an anti-poor party which always opposed this exercise and has always been critical about the caste-based head out.”
The caste-based head count process has been a major issue in Bihar, as Kumar’s JD(U) and all constituents of the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ were demanding that the exercise be undertaken at the earliest. The State government embarked on the exercise in the wake of the Centre expressing its inability to undertake a caste-based enumeration other than SCs and STs.
The exercise will be conducted in two phases across Bihar, an official said. “All households will be covered in the first phase, which will continue till January 21. In the second one which will start in March, data on people, belonging to all castes, sub-castes and religions, will be collected.
“Enumerators will gather information about the financial status of all people,” Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh said after he inspected the ongoing exercise being conducted by the state government employees in the Bank road area in Patna. “The exercise is being conducted in all 12,696 blocks in Patna district,” he said.
The caste-based census will be completed by May in 2023, and the state government will spend Rs 500 crore from its contingency fund for the exercise. The general administration department is the nodal authority for the survey.