The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay Bihar caste census which had stated that state’s total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore. The Apex Court also ruled that it can’t stop a state government from taking a decision. Besides a plea by NGO ‘Ek Soch Ek Paryas’, several other petitions have been filed including one by Nalanda resident Akhilesh Kumar, who has contended that the notification issued by the state government for the exercise is against the constitutional mandate.

What was the survey

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar released findings of its survey months ahead of the 2024 Parliamentary elections, which revealed that OBCs and EBCs constitute a whopping 63 per cent of the state’s total population. According to the data released, the state’s total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which the Extremely Backward Classes (36 per cent) were the largest social segment followed by the Other Backward Classes at 27.13 per cent. The survey also stated that Yadavs, the OBC group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs, were the largest in terms of the population, accounting for 14.27 per cent of the total. Dalits, also known as the Scheduled Castes, accounted for 19.65 per cent of the total population in the state, which is also home to nearly 22 lakh (1.68 per cent) people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes.

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