Bihar government releases caste survey data; OBCs, EBCs account for 63 pc of population

PATNA: The Bihar government on Monday released caste survey data, with the figures that have ramifications for the Lok Sabha polls next year, showing that Other Backward Caste (OBC) and Extremely Backward Class (EBC) together account for 63 per cent of the state’s population.

The report of the caste-based survey conducted in Bihar was released at a press conference in the state capital.

“The extremely backward class is 36.01 per cent, the general category is 15.52 per cent and the Other Backward Caste (OBC) is 27 per cent," Vivek Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary said.

According to the data, Scheduled Castes make up 19.65 per cent and the Scheduled Tribes 1.68 per cent of the population of the state.

The data also said that the Hindus comprise 81.99 per cent of the population, Muslims 17.7 per cent, Christians 0.05 per cent, Sikhs 0.01 per cent, Buddhists 0.08 per cent and other religions 0.12 per cent.

The data said that Yadavs, the OBC group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs, is the largest and accounts for 14.27 per cent of the state’s population.

Kushwaha and Kurmi communities form 4.27 per cent and 2.87 per cent of the population, the caste survey said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar belongs to the Kurmi community in the state. The total population of Bihar is more than 13 crore.