PATNA, Oct 2:
The Nitish Kumar Government in Bihar today released findings of its much-awaited caste survey which revealed that OBCs and EBCs constitute a whopping 63 per cent of the State’s total population.
According to the data released here by Development Commissioner Vivek Singh, the State’s total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which the Extremely Backward Classes (36 per cent) were the largest social segment followed by the Other Backward Classes at 27.13 per cent.
The survey also stated that Yadavs, the OBC group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs, were the largest in terms of the population, accounting for 14.27 per cent of the total.
Dalits, also known as the Scheduled Castes, accounted for 19.65 per cent of the total population in the State, which is also home to nearly 22 lakh (1.68 per cent) people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes.
Those belonging to the “unreserved” category, which denotes the proverbial “upper castes” who dominated politics till the Mandal wave of 1990s, comprise 15.52 per cent of the total population.
The survey also establishes that the state’s population is overwhelmingly Hindu, with the majority community comprising 81.99 per cent of the total population, followed by Muslims (17.70 per cent).
Christians, Sikhs, Jains and those following other religions as also the non-believers have a miniscule presence, together making up for less than one per cent of the total population.
Lauding the Government officials who undertook the gigantic exercise, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, “A meeting will soon be convened of all the nine political parties with an electoral presence in the State Legislature and the facts and figures will be shared with them.” (PTI)
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