After Bihar, which other states are demanding a caste census?

Ahead of the upcoming General Election in 2024, the Bihar government issued its caste census results on Monday, noting that “no analysis of it has yet been done.” Chief Minister Nitish Kumar hailed the survey team, while Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav referred to the event as a “historic moment.” The survey’s findings have also inspired the opposition parties in major states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh to call for similar initiatives in their states. Here is everything we know about the report and the states who are demanding it. Bihar’s caste survey report According to the Bihar Jaati Adharit Ganana (Bihar caste-based survey), which only provided information on the state’s caste distribution, the Other Backward Class (OBC) population in the state makes up 27.1286 per cent of the total, while the Extremely Backward Class (EBC) makes up 36.0148 per cent, according to India Today. In Bihar, there are 19.6518 per cent of Scheduled Caste people, compared to 1.6824 per cent of Scheduled Tribe people and 15.52 per cent of General Caste people. The survey also showed that Muslims make up 17.7088 per cent of the population, while Hindus make up 81.9986 per cent. The entire population of the state is said to be 13 crore, according to the survey report. The Yadava caste makes up 14.26 per cent of the Other Backward Class category, followed by the Kushwaha and Kurmi castes at 4.27 and 2.87 per cent, respectively. The caste survey included caste among its 17 socioeconomic categories. A total of 2.64 lakh enumerators recorded the information of 29 million registered households during the three-phased activity, which was finished in August of this year. Different individual codes were given to the 214 castes reported in the census. Taking to X (previously Twitter), CM Kumar congratulated the survey team and wrote, “Today on the auspicious occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, the data of the caste based census conducted in Bihar has been published. Many congratulations to the entire team engaged in the work of caste based enumeration. The proposal for the caste based survey was passed unanimously in the State legislature. All nine political parties of the State assembly will now be called for a meeting to apprise them about the caste based survey report." While Deputy CM Yadav said, “Bihar once again became witness of a historic moment with the compilation of caste based survey data and its release thereafter in such a short time. Bihar has now drawn a long line and set an example before the country. What has happened in Bihar today, shall have its voice heard tomorrow across the whole country. And tomorrow is not far ahead. Bihar once again has shown light to the country.” Rekindled calls for caste survey The results of the Bihar caste survey have re-ignited calls for a national caste census. Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav, took aim at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh and wrote on X, “Bihar’s caste census report is published: This is the mathematical basis for social justice. The caste census will not put 85 per cent (others) against 15 per cent (upper caste Hindus), but will open pathways for cooperation (between them)…The BJP government should stop politicking and get a nationwide caste census done.”

बिहार जाति आधारित जनगणना प्रकाशित : ये है सामाजिक न्याय का गणतीय आधार।

जातिगत जनगणना 85-15 के संघर्ष का नहीं बल्कि सहयोग का नया रास्ता खोलेगी और जो लोग प्रभुत्वकामी नहीं हैं बल्कि सबके हक़ के हिमायती हैं, वो इसका समर्थन भी करते हैं और स्वागत भी।जो सच में अधिकार दिलवाना चाहते हैं…

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) October 2, 2023

In Madhya Pradesh, state Congress chief Kamal Nath promised that if they won the next assembly elections, his party would conduct a caste survey. “When we come to power, we will conduct a caste census in the state to ensure the development of the deprived people,” he said, according to Hindustan Times. According to the report, Congress leader and CM of Rajasthan, a state headed for elections, Ashok Gehlot has also backed a caste survey and stated that he favours giving OBCs more representation in the workforce and in educational institutions, in line with their numbers. As per news agency PTI, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad has also hailed the caste survey and demanded that a similar exercise be carried out in all states of the country, including Maharashtra, alleging that the rights of the OBCs were being snatched away. The member of the Maharashtra legislative assembly representing the Mumbra-Kalwa constituency in Thane district made this demand in a video message posted on social media platform X on Monday night. “Bihar has taken a brave step forward. It took a decision to conduct a caste-based census. And what truth came out of it (caste-based census)? It revealed that the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) comprise 61 per cent of the population. The Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs together form 85 per cent of its population,” he said, adding, “And the truth that came out in Bihar is the truth of the entire India. And therefore we demand…we have always demanded that at least bring out the exact caste-wise population figures. Today, everything is being snatched away from the OBCs.”

बिहारने जातीगणनेची आकडेवारी जाहीर केली आणि अवघ्या देशासमोर जात उतरंडीच सत्य बाहेर आलं.बिहारच्या जातीनिहाय जनगणनेतून संपूर्ण भारताच्या एकूणच सामाजिक स्थितीच दर्शन होत आहे,आणि हीच संपूर्ण परिस्थिती आपल्या देशाची असणार आहे यात मला तरी काही शंका वाटत नाही.
या जातीनिहाय जनगणनेमुळे… pic.twitter.com/dieXZwEQ1F

— Dr.Jitendra Awhad (@Awhadspeaks) October 2, 2023

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India Today reported that the leader of the Opposition, Vijay Wadettiwar, on Monday also urged the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti administration to share a time-bound plan for carrying out a thorough caste-wise census, drawing inspiration from the Bihar census. He stressed the significance of a caste-based census, especially in addressing the ongoing reservation issues faced by different communities in the state. This effort, he insisted, is essential to successfully addressing these problems. Recently, there have been several calls for Maharashtra to conduct a caste-based census, similar to the method used in Bihar. According to state Deputy CM Devendra Fadanvis, they are keenly monitoring the Bihar census’s progress and plan to examine its strategy before moving forward with their own. PM Modi hits out at Bihar government On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the opposition, notably the grand old party Congress, of playing with the feelings of the poor and dividing people in the name of caste. He was speaking at a rally in the crucial state of Madhya Pradesh, which is preparing for elections. “Even then they used to play with the feelings of the poor and they are doing it even now. Even then they used to divide the country on the basis of caste and even now they are doing the same,” he said, according to The Times of India. This comes at a time when the Congress has clearly said that it will make the national caste census a campaign topic in the next assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. According to Jagran, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi vowed to conduct a “caste census” if his party is elected to power on Monday while speaking to a crowd in Chhattisgarh. He emphasised that such an initiative is necessary for the involvement of marginalised groups, including OBCs, Dalits, tribals, and women. He also questioned why the prime minister was afraid of such an undertaking and questioned why the BJP-led government had not made public the details of the caste census that was previously carried out while the Congress was in power. The growing support for the survey According to Hindustan Times, the Samajwadi Party wanted a caste survey in early 2022 after losing another state election to the BJP. The Congress itself had addressed the issue in its Udaipur declaration from May 2022. “The Indian National Congress resolves to begin a decisive struggle for the demand to make the caste census data public and get the backward classes their rights,” part of that resolution said, as per the report. However, the survey was only possible at the beginning of this year after Nitish Kumar jumped ship and began forming an anti-BJP agenda. HT states the Congress also mentioned the caste census matter again in its Raipur resolution in February. The report cited the resolution as stating, “The BJP has consistently refused to conduct the caste census which would be crucial to revising the benchmark for socio-economic and educational backwardness. Indian National Congress commits to conduct a Socio-Economic Caste Census along with the decennial census.” Notably, pushing for a nationwide caste census has two benefits, according to leaders of the INDIA alliance: 1. It gives the opposition party a fresh angle to argue from, and 2. It may be a method to divide the OBC support, a significant portion of which had consolidated behind the BJP in prior elections. “I think everyone in INDIA alliance is on board with our demand,’’ the report quoted INDIA’s coordination committee member and senior Janata Dal United (JDU) national president Lallan Singh as saying. He added, “Rahul Gandhi has been raising it since Karnataka election. Whenever we raised it and took it to the central government, they have opposed it. It’s obvious why they are doing so– it’s because if this happens nationally, their communal agenda will fail.’’ With inputs from agencies