The Bihar Cabinet on Tuesday passed a proposal to raise the quota for SCs, STs, Other Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) to a total of 75 per cent from the existing 50 per cent. A bill will be brought in the assembly on the same during the ongoing winter session.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar confirmed the proposal while concluding the debate on the Caste Survey report, which was tabled in the assembly on Tuesday. Kumar’s announcement comes months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Other INDIA alliance leaders including Rahul Gandhi have made similar pitches regarding caste census during their election campaigns.
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Bihar caste survey proposal
The proposal seeks to hike the reservation of OBCs and EBS to a combined 43 per cent from 30 per cent, 20 per cent for Scheduled Castes (SCs) from 16 per cent and 2 per cent for Scheduled Tribes (STs) from 1 per cent. The quota for EWS will remain at the existing 10 per cent.
The Caste Survey report revealed that OBCs (27.13 per cent) and the extremely backward classes sub-group (36 per cent) account for a whopping 63 per cent of the state’s total of 13.07 crore, while SCs and STs together were slightly over 21 per cent.
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According to the report tabled in the assembly by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, the state is home to about 2.97 crore families out of which more than 94 lakh (34.13 per cent) live on an income of Rs 6,000 or less a month.
The report also revealed that more than 50 lakh Biharis were living outside the state in search of livelihood or better education opportunities. Those earning a living in other states numbered around 46 lakhs while another 2.17 lakhs have found greener pastures abroad. Those pursuing studies in other states numbered about 5.52 lakhs while about 27,000 were doing the same abroad.
