Following the release of the caste-based survey in Bihar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said that it is important to know the people who clean our drains, who stay in jhuggis, how much is their population and what is their economic state in society.
"Who are the people who collect garbage, clean the drains? Who are the people who live in slums, who work as labourers, who are landless? The data reveals the population of communities and their economic status. It will help the government in joining the weaker sections of the society with the mainstream," said Yadav.
Sharing insights into the survey findings, he said, "64 per cent are backward and 20 per cent are SC STs. This data that roughly 85 per cent are from the marginalised section of society. This has come before everyone in the country. Our fight has been for social justice and economic justice, to bring to the mainstream those who are weak."
Boasting the state government's achievement despite obstacles from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Deputy CM said, "We have done historic work in a short span of time and released the data. The BJP had tried to create many obstacles. We had placed the demand of caste-based census to the Prime Minister and agreed that if he declines we will have our own caste-based census in the state. The census was denied in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, but our commitment was strong and we did it."
(With ANI inputs)
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