Bihar caste census data released; OBCs, EBCs comprise more than 63% of population

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Monday released findings of its much-awaited caste survey, which revealed that OBCs and EBCs constitute a whopping 63 percent of the state's total population.

According to the data released here by Development Commissioner Vivek Singh, the state's total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which, the Extremely Backward Classes (36 percent) were the largest social segment followed by the Other Backward Classes at 27.13 percent.

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The survey also stated that Yadavs, the OBC group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs, were the largest in terms of population, accounting for 14.27 percent of the total.

Notably, the survey was ordered last year after the Narendra Modi government at the Centre made it clear that it would not be able to undertake a headcount of castes other than SCs and STs as part of the census.