Jharkhand to Conduct Caste-Based Survey Within a Year

Ranchi: The state govt on Monday announced that it will conduct a caste-based survey in Jharkhand within a year. Replying to a question by Congress legislator Pradeep Yadav, Deepak Birua, the minister-in-charge for the department of personnel, administrative reforms and Rajbhasha, said the process to hold the survey is underway. "Soon, the department, appointed as the nodal department for the survey, will come up with a detailed procedure," Birua said.
Though the govt in its written reply only stated that the process is underway, Birua in his oral reply clarified that following a February 2024 cabinet decision to hold a caste-based survey in the state, an amendment was introduced in the state executive manual to assign the personnel department to carry out this exercise. "It was on March 4 this year that the department issued an order detailing how many people would be required, which agency should be hired, and the financial burden likely to be incurred," he said.
Supporting the govt, Yadav said that Telangana completed the exercise within 25 days by engaging 80,000 govt teachers. "Whether our state has decided if the survey would be carried out by the state or some agency would be hired for the purpose. Also, if the questionnaire is ready because in the case of Jharkhand, a separate column for tribals must be considered," he said.
Agreeing to the suggestions, Birua said that all such decisions will be taken by the department. "Very few days are left in this financial year, so we can assure the members that every effort will be made to complete the survey in the next financial year," he said.
Congress MLA Rajesh Kachchap reminded that Jharkhand, being an agrarian state, sees many people migrate to other states in the non-agricultural season. "While deciding the dates for the survey, the govt should keep in mind the sowing season and harvest season so that maximum residents of the state are covered," he said.
In yet another question, Yadav asked for the inclusion of people belonging to the Kadar and Laiya castes, living in Godda, Deoghar and Dumka districts of Santhal Pargana in the list of scheduled castes instead of backward classes. Responding to this, minister Birua agreed to engage the Ranchi based Tribal Research Institute to prepare a report, based on which a recommendation would be sent to the centre for their inclusion in the SC category. Yadav informed that the people belonging to these castes live in abject poverty and none among them is either a graduate or in any govt job. "Their inclusion in the backward class has not helped improve their standards, and to date, they are engaged in earth-cutting work for sustenance," he said.