Bihar

• 04 Jan 2024

Bihar Caste Survey to be Put in Public Domain: SC

Why in News?

Recently, the Supreme Court asked the Bihar government to put the break-up of the caste survey data in the public domain to enable aggrieved persons to challenge the findings.

• The advocate appearing on behalf of the Bihar government have said that the data, caste wise is already available in the public domain

Key Points

• The panel of justices declined to provide any assistance to the petitioners who have contested the caste survey and the verdict of the Patna High Court that supports the Bihar government's decision to carry out such a task.
• The Bihar Caste Survey, 2023 revealed that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) together constitute 63 % of the state’s total population.
  • According to the data released, the state's total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which the EBCs (36%) were the largest social segment followed by the OBCs at 27.13%.
• Since the survey data is out, the authorities have started implementing it in the interim and raised the reservation for SCs, STs, OBCs, EBCs, and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) to a total of 75% from the existing 50%.