Nitish govt sends proposal to Centre for recognizing EBCs as

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has urged the Centre to grant Scheduled Tribes status to a number of Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) in the state, an official release said here today.

The EBC groups for which ST status has been requested are Mallah, Nonia and all sub-castes of Nishad community, the release said.

The sub-castes of Nishad community are Bind, Kevat, Vanpar, Godhi, Surahiya, Khulvat Teeyar, Chauyen and Beldar, the release added.

According to the release, the proposal has been sent to the Union Tribal Affairs department with the report of an ethnographic study of these communities by city-based Anugrah Narayan Sinha Institute of Social Sciences.

"The state government had, in 2015, recommended to the Centre that these groups be given Scheduled Tribes status. The department for Tribal Affairs had replied that a fresh recommendation be sent along with an ethnographic study of all the groups". the release said.