No reason to stall it, analysing data post-caste survey completion: Nitish Kumar

Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that data was being analysed following the completion of Bihar’s caste survey to present a true picture of the socio-economic conditions of different castes while underlying there was no reason to stall the process. He said they conducted the survey in the state after it was not done at the national level.

Speaking after paying tribute to the late former Bihar chief minister BP Mandal, who chaired the commission that recommended reservations for Other Backward Classes in government jobs, he said the survey should have been done nationally.

Kumar’s comments came days after his Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Union government’s intervention in the hearing of pleas against the Patna high court’s go-ahead for the survey.

The Supreme Court on Monday gave the Union government a week to file its response in the matter after solicitor-general Tushar Mehta said the survey has some “ramifications”.

The BJP maintained it has favoured the survey. It said Bihar’s previous National Democratic Alliance government approved it before Kumar ended JD(U)’s alliance with the BJP last year.

Responding to a question on Mehta’s intervention, Kumar said there was no stay on it. “The matter was also before the high court earlier and once the go-ahead came, the remaining 20% of the work was completed. What objection one can have to it? It is for all and everybody knows about it. It has not been done suddenly. Everything was planned. Once Bihar publishes the data, other states will also use it as a model. All the states want to do it.”

The Supreme Court ruled out any interim order or stay on the high court verdict until it is prima facie convinced that the survey was erroneous. It has posted the matter for hearing on August 28.

On August 1, the high court allowed the survey to proceed. The petitioners have argued the survey was conducted like a census which only the Union government can undertake. They also maintained details sought about caste, religion, and profession for the survey violated the right to privacy and that there was no mechanism to protect this data.

The high court said the census falls solely within the prerogative of the Union government but state governments are not prohibited from collecting data for welfare schemes and affirmative action.

Kumar cited the socio-economic survey conducted in 2011 along with the census and said they unsuccessfully asked for the data to be made public. He added census has been discontinued. “It happened every 10 years to get an idea of the demographic changes as well as population growth. They [the Union government] are not doing anything.”

Kumar said all parties unanimously decided to conduct the caste survey. “...the guidelines for it were set ...[to make it] comprehensive to reflect not just caste numbers but also economic condition.”

He said the survey part has been completed and the data was being analysed to reflect the socio-economic condition of all caste groups for effective planning at the state level with whatever resources they have. “It will also [analyse] sub-castes... migration to towns from villages.”

Ruling JD(U) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led the demand for the survey. Congress has backed a similar survey in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, hoping it will be a game-changer in countering the religious polarisation that has benefitted the BJP electorally.

Kumar said the Central Bureau of Investigation has challenged RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s bail to harass him. “Do not you see how the Union government is acting? They are trying to harass everyone.”

He referred to the Opposition INDIA bloc’s third meeting on September 1 in Mumbai and said they want all the parties to fight unitedly and strongly. “Let there be deliberations. It is not right to speak about it now.”