Economic data collected during caste survey to be tabled in Bihar assembly: Nitish Kumar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said details collected as part of the caste survey, including the economic condition of households, will be tabled before the state assembly.

He was responding to queries from journalists, on the sidelines of a function organised here to mark the birth anniversary of legendary socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, by whom he had been inspired, as an engineering student in the 1970s, to take the political plunge.

"What we have accomplished is being talked about across the country. Now, as the next step, we will place on record details like the economic condition of households which will give a clearer picture. This will be done in the next session of the assembly," the chief minister said.

The JD(U) leader, however, ducked queries as to whether the survey, which has shown OBCs and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) to be nearly two-thirds of the population, would be followed by a rise in quotas to ensure proportionate representation.

"It would not be appropriate for me to say anything on this. At least not now," was the curt reply of Kumar, whose ally RJD has taken a hardline stance on the issue, insisting that with the Supreme Court's 50 per cent cap on reservations having been lifted, in effect, with the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quotas, all social groups be given a share in proportion to their respective population.

The chief minister, who had snapped ties with the BJP nearly a year ago, was also asked about the party's charge that the survey was manipulated to suit the "MY" (Muslim-Yadav) of the RJD, to which his deputy Tejashwi Yadav belongs.

Kumar, who spoke with Yadav by his side, said he took "no notice" of what the BJP says and saw no point in reacting since, "by virtue of being in power at the Centre they have virtually captured the media".

"This is the reason why I no longer feel like reading newspapers, which I have been in the habit of since I was a student. But young journalists need not worry. They will soon be able to practice their profession freely, once we get rid of the current dispensation," said the JD(U) supremo, who has played a key role in the formation of the INDIA coalition.

He, however, parried questions about complaints of many NDA leaders in the state, who have cast doubts on the findings of the survey by claiming that the enumerators never visited their residences.