Lalu, Nitish promise all-India caste census if INDIA forms govt

PATNA: Hailing the caste survey findings, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said his government would share the data with all the nine political parties that had MLAs - JD(U), RJD, BJP, Congress, CPI-ML, CPM, CPI, HAM(S) and AIMIM - at a meeting at 3.30pm Tuesday.


A report on the economic status of various communities would also be released during the meeting. "Information about the economic condition of each family has also been collected with the caste data," Nitish said.

"Further steps will be taken on the basis of advice from these parties," he added.

Asked if steps could be taken to increase the percentage of quota in proportion to the population of a particular caste/social group, Nitish said a decision would be taken based on the suggestions from the political parties.



However, he made it amply clear where JD(U) stood on the issue, asserting that people should get representation proportionate to their population. "We have been asserting this since long," he said.

JD(U)'s alliance partner RJD, too, backed this position. RJD president Lalu Prasad said: "When our government is formed at the Centre in 2024, we will initiate caste-based census across the country. "

Nitish, too, expressed confidence that the Bihar survey would provide an impetus for a nationwide caste census.