Jharkhand announces plans for caste survey, similar to the one in Bihar

The Jharkhand government on Sunday greenlit plans for a caste-based survey in the state, similar to the one conducted in the state of Bihar.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren gave a go-ahead for caste-based survey in the state, news agency PTI reported on Sunday. The officials have been asked to prepare a draft for the same and place it before the Cabinet for a nod.

"If everything goes according to plan, Jharkhand caste survey will begin after the Lok Sabha polls," an official said.


Dates for Lok Sabha elections have not been announced yet.

Vinay Kumar Choubey, principal secretary to the CM, told PTI, "The personnel department will prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) to conduct the survey in Jharkhand. It will be placed before the cabinet for approval."

The caste survey will be conducted on the pattern of neighouring Bihar, where data collection was conducted between January 7 and October 2 last year, he added.

Recently, the Telangana state government brought a resolution in the Assembly to conduct a state-wide caste census. "Today, the resolution on a caste census has been passed in the Telangana assembly. It marks a major step forward towards fulfilling the dream and vision of Rahul Gandhi, who earlier called for a nationwide OBC caste census. It was passed earlier in the CWC meeting of the AICC," said Congress leader Deepa Dasmunshi. Dasmunshi said it marked the fulfilment of the vision of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

The previous Rajasthan government under Congress' Ashok Gehlot had announced plans to conduct a similar survey back in October. Odisha did a survey between May-July 2023 while Maharashtra government was in touch with Bihar officials to understand the methodology of conducting a similar survey in the state, ET had reported.

The Karnataka government has already completed a caste survey during the previous tenure of the Congress government. The report of the state backward commission was not accepted by then CM HD Kumaraswamy.