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Caste has always played an important role in the politics of Bihar, set to soon re-elect its legislative assembly. The rise of Nitish Kumar a decade earlier to the chief ministership made development a hot issue but the debate on who will win the battle for Bihar still centres around the caste arithmetic.
Both the big rival alliances - of Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress on one side and the National Democratic Alliance on the other - are trying to tilt the balance in their favour by attracting scheduled castes (SCs), who number 16.5 million or almost 16 per cent of the voters. It is the fifth largest population of SCs in any state.
The category of extremely backward castes (EBC) and Mahadalits, the two blocks carved out of the Dalit block by Kumar to create a niche for his party, the JD (U), constitute almost 40 per cent of all votes. Kumar announced reservation for backward castes in panchayat and urban local bodies' elections. He then started schemes for old-age pension, free bicycles, free uniforms, scholarships and money for poor parents to whom a girl child was born. All these schemes ensured that every SC, EBC and Mahadalit household got a least a couple of thousand rupees in their hands regularly. As the third and final instalment of his social engineering, he announced job reservations for backward castes and women in panchayats and urban local bodies.
However, in Bihar, the SCs still occupy the lowest rung of economic development. As a rule, many of the development schemes for them, the EBCs and mahadalits are good only on paper; most people from these communities still live below the poverty line. A brief look, here, at the discouraging state of affairs in law & order, jobs and education.
Crime
Crime against those from these communities is very high in comparison to the rest of India. At one time, law and order in Bihar used to be among Nitish Kumar's strongest points. However, in recent years, the state has seen a spurt in crimes. And, with 16.8 per cent of crimes against SCs in the country, ranked third in this dismal category during 2014 according to the National Crime Records Bureau. A total of 912 cases of grievious hurt were filed by SC victims last year, almost half the total of such cases registered in the country.
And, at least a third of cases registered of criminal acts against SCS are still pending with the police. The state had nearly a fourth of India's total in pending cases of crime against SCs in 2014. The conviction rate was only 13 per cent of all cases registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Rural jobs
Bihar was one of the first states to implement the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), in all 38 districts in 2005. However, only 16 per cent of the total of registered workers are active, rampant corruption also having diluted its effect.
Bihar has the second highest number of SCs under the scheme, after Uttar Pradesh. A quarter of the total of registered labourers under this scheme are SCs. However, only 16 per cent of these workers got employment under the scheme, only better than Jharkhand.
Education
SC children are almost a fifth of total enrolment in government schools, fifth largest in the country among states in this. However, the rate of SC girls' enrolment is less than half of the all-girl enrolment rate in Bihar. And, high variation among districts at both primary and upper primary levels.
Substantial dropouts before completion of the desired education level is another problem. And, the rate among SC students is much higher. As many as 49 per cent of SC girl students, for instance, do not complete upper primary education. At least two-thirds of all SC students do not complete secondary education.
Analysts point to leakages and bureaucratic hurdles as contributing to high dropout rates. "In 2007, the Nitish Kumar government started a post-matric scholarship scheme. SC/ST students who passed class 10 exams in the first division were promised financial assistance, to get admission in technical institutions. For the first couple of years, the scheme ran hurdles but since 2013, not a single paisa has been given to any student, says one.
