Jharkhand Chief Minister Gives Go-Ahead For Caste-Based Survey

Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren has given the go-ahead for a caste-based survey in the state on the lines of the recent exercise in neighbouring Bihar, a senior official said on Sunday.

Champai Soren has directed the personnel department to prepare a draft and place it before the cabinet for approval.

If everything goes according to plan, the exercise will begin after the Lok Sabha elections, the official said.

"Jiski Jitni Sankhya Bhari, Uski Utni Hissedari (bigger the population, bigger the share). Jharkhand is ready," the CM posted on X, indicating the survey.

Vinay Kumar Choubey, principal secretary to the chief minister, told news agency 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 the study in Bihar, where data collection began on January 7, 2023, and it was released on October 2 last year, he said.

Vinay Kumar Choubey said that several departments, including rural and welfare, were considered for the exercise, but eventually, the personnel department was finalised to hold the survey.

Legislators of the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD combine in Jharkhand have been demanding a caste-based survey in the state.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, during his Jharkhand leg of the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' in the first week of this month, had also advocated for it.

Meanwhile, commenting on the proposed exercise, Jharkhand Governor C P Radhakrishnan said, "Everybody knows about the demography of the state. Instead of talking about too many things, we should concentrate on the development of the poorest of the poor."

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