Bihar Caste Census Report 2023 PDF

The Bihar government recently released the results of its caste survey, shedding light on the state’s demographic composition. While it is important to note that no detailed analysis has been conducted yet, the survey provides valuable data on caste distribution in Bihar.

Bihar Caste Census: Key Demographic Breakdowns

Here are the key findings from the Bihar caste survey:

1.OBCs and EBCs Dominate:

• • Extremely Backward Class (EBC) comprises 36.01% of the population.
  • Other Backward Class (OBC) constitutes 27.13% of the population.

2. Scheduled Castes and Tribes:

• • • Scheduled Caste (SC) population stands at 19.65%.
    • Scheduled Tribe (ST) population is 1.68%.

3. General Caste and Yadavs:

• • General Caste population is 15.52%.
  • Yadavs represent 14% of the population.

4. Religious Composition:

• • Hindus make up 82% of the population.
  • Muslims account for 17.71%.

Additional Insights:

The survey also provides insights into specific caste groups:

6. Yadavs, Kushwahas, and Kurmis:

• • Among OBCs, Yadavs constitute 14.26%.
  • Kushwaha and Kurmi castes make up 4.27% and 2.87%, respectively.

7. Large-Scale Data Collection:

• • The caste survey encompassed 17 socio-economic indicators, including caste.
  • It was conducted in three phases, involving approximately 2.64 lakh enumerators documenting data from 29 million registered households.
  • A total of 214 castes were identified and assigned individual codes.

8. Implications for Reservations:

• • The survey’s findings may open the door to challenging the 50% ceiling on reservations in the state.

9. Government Initiatives:

• • The Bihar government launched the two-phase caste survey in January, recording both economic status and caste data for around 12.70 crore people in the state.

10. Comparison with Previous Data:

• • The Union Government had conducted a caste survey in 2011 (SECC-2011), but the data was never made public.