Big win for Bihar government: Patna HC upholds caste-based survey
The Patna High Court on Tuesday dismissed the petitions challenging the caste-based survey being conducted by the Bihar government, ruling it valid and legal. The petitioners are now likely to move the Supreme Court against the survey that the state government started in January this year. In May, the Patna HC stayed the caste-based census in its interim order.
Why does this story matter?
Although caste discrimination is outlawed in the Constitution, numerous studies show it still significantly governs public life in India, stunting growth. A caste census has the potential to uncover the comprehensive result of decades of affirmative action and its pitfalls. Several political quarters have accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of opposing the survey as it would reveal upper-caste hegemony in government institutions.
State has no power to conduct census, HC said earlier
After hearing the five petitions against the survey, a bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy earlier reserved its verdict on the matter on July 7. In May, the bench noted that the state has no power to carry out a caste-based survey, as it equates to a census and therefore impinges on the legislative power of the Parliament.
Bihar government aims to collect data in two phases
The government conducted the first round of the survey between January 7 and 21, while its second round began on April 15 and was scheduled to continue till May 15. The government aimed to collect data on each family in a two-phase process. The survey lists 28 questions on topics ranging from caste, gender, religion, education, and financial status.
Centre declined proposal for nationwide caste survey: Nitish Kumar
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar earlier said that the resolutions in favor of the survey were passed twice in both Houses of the state legislature. The representatives of all parties backed him in proposing a nationwide caste census to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Kumar. However, the Centre junked the proposal, and the state government decided to undertake the exercise in Bihar.
Headcount of only SCs and STs: Centre
The caste-based census aims to conduct a headcount of all castes in Bihar. The Centre previously made it clear that no caste-based census except for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) would be conducted. This has riled up the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), which have dominated Bihar's political space for decades and strongly favor the caste census.
