Bihar

• 02 Jun 2022

Bihar to have caste census

Why in News?

• In an all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on June 1, 2022, on the issue of caste census, it was unanimously decided that the castes and sub-castes of all religions will be counted in Bihar.

Key Points

• The Chief Minister said that the purpose of conducting caste-based enumeration is to take people forward so that no one in the state is neglected.
• In response to a question, the Chief Minister said the Central government was requested for a caste census at the national level, but the decision to do it at the state level has been taken after it was refused to be conducted at the national level.
• On August 23, 2021, a delegation led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met the Prime Minister and urged him to conduct a caste census in the country, and earlier also a resolution has been passed twice in 2019 and 2020 by the Bihar Assembly to conduct the caste census in the country.
• It may be mentioned that the caste census was last conducted in the year 1931, although the socio-economic caste census was conducted in the year 2011, its caste data was not released by the central government.