PATNA: A day after the Bihar government released the caste survey report the opposition BJP raised questions on the procedure of the exercise.
“We pointed out a few discrepancies in the caste survey report. Similar questions were also raised by other leaders who attended the meeting. Bihar CM has directed the officials to look into the matter”, Senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha told reporters after the meeting.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called an all-party meeting to discuss the facts and figures of the caste-based survey on Tuesday. The BJP was among the nine political parties that attended the meeting.
Mr. Sinha said that the party has also stepped up its demands for the economic survey report. He said that “questions were raised about the process of the collection of data during caste-based survey. We have also asked the state government to release the socio-economic report collected during the caste survey. We have been told that the economic survey report will be tabled in the Bihar assembly during the winter session”.
The caste-based survey report has generated mixed sentiments among the political parties in Bihar. The grand alliance partner RJD has called the caste survey report “historic” and promised to carry out the exercise across the country if the INDIA bloc forms the government at the centre.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Nitish Kumar cabinet approved a 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) in the judicial services and state-run colleges and universities.
The move is being seen as a major decision by the Bihar government after the release of data based on caste surveys. The data released by the state government showed that extremely backward castes (EBCs) constituted 36.01 per cent of the population and other backward castes (OBCs) 27.12 per cent.
After the release of the data based on the caste survey, Nitish Kumar emphasised that the survey would benefit all sections of society.
