The Nitish Kumar government started its much-hyped caste-based census in Bihar on Saturday. Terming the caste-based head count as a ‘historic’ step, Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav said the exercise will provide scientific data for carrying out welfare schemes for weaker sections of the society.

Noting that all the parties of the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ were in favour of the exercise, the RJD leader claimed that the BJP was “critical” about the survey.

Bihar government will conduct the exercise in two stages. In the first phase, which is likely to be over by January 21, the number of all households in the state will be counted. In the second phase, starting from March, data pertaining to people of all castes, sub-castes and religions will be collected. Enumerators, whose training began on December 15, will also record information about the financial status of all people.

Data will be collected digitally through a mobile application as part of the eight-level survey, from the panchayat to the district level. The app will have questions about place, caste, the number of people in a family, their profession, and annual income. Census workers include teachers, Anganwadi, MGNREGA or Jeevika workers.

While speaking to media, Tejaswi Yadav said “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,”.

The caste census is happening even as Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, a BJP MP from Bihar, said in Parliament in 2021 that no caste-based census except for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) would be conducted. Since Independence, the Centre has so far conducted seven censuses and published data related to only SCs and STs.

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.

Image source: PTI