This has been unraveled by the Upper Caste Commission set up in January 2011, by Nitish

Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, to study the condition of economically and educationally backward sections of upper castes. A first of its kind the study reveals that majority of the upper caste population suffers from same disadvantages faced by the backward caste people.

Nearly 55.1 percent of upper caste Hindus and 86.1 percent of upper caste Muslim have only marginal amount of land, less than 1.0 acre. The average land endowment for upper caste Hindu households is only 2.64 acres and that for upper caste Muslim households is much lower at 0.55 acres. No less than 33.4 percent of the upper caste Hindus and 72.8 percent of upper caste Muslim do not possess any cultivable land. This is indeed a more appropriate measure of land poverty of the upper caste households.

The Commission while assessed class differentiation among the upper castes in terms of control on resources and economy (including land etc.) and the diminishing importance of traditional occupations it also tried to find out reasons for their backwardness.

According to survey, the percentage of upper caste population living below poverty line is 10.4 percent in rural Bihar and 7.1 percent in urban Bihar. These poverty ratios, quite expectedly, are much lower than the ratios for the general population. The extent of indebtedness of a household is also an important indicator of its economic status, besides its income level. In the rural areas, 35.3 percent of the upper caste Hindu households are indebted. In the urban areas, the extent of indebtedness is lower, with 24.9 percent of the upper caste Hindu households reporting some outstanding debt.

The reasons for taking loan by the upper caste households in Bihar varies considerably between the rural and urban areas. In the rural areas, a major part of the upper caste Hindu households generally take a loan for production purposes (building or repairing house, or business, or agricultural operations), as no less than 50.5 percent of households report these to be the reason for their loan. But because of the lower income levels of some of the upper caste Hindu households, 16.2 percent of them also have to borrow for socio-religious functions (marriage/sraadh) and another 15.6 percent for medical expenses

According to the 2011 census 27.0 and 16.4 percent among upper caste Hindus and Muslim are only marginal cultivators operating less than 1 acre of land. If one considers at least 5 acres of cultivated land as an economic holding, only 8.6 percent of the upper caste Hindu households and a slender 1.1 percent of upper caste Muslim households are seen to be belonging to this fortunate category. The average amount of cultivable land per household is only 1.91 acres for the upper caste Hindus households and only 0.45 acres for their Muslim counterparts. A comparison of the ownership of cultivated land by different castes indicates that Bhumihar are most land-rich among the Hindus, with an average landholding of 2.96 acres of cultivated land. The other castes in descending order are Rajput (1.99 acres), Brahmins (1.40 acres) and Kayasths (1.01 acres). Among the three Muslim upper castes, the ownership of cultivated land is much lower Pathans (0.48 acres), Sheikhs (0.46 acres) and Syeds (0.37 acres).

While for majority of the upper caste Hindu households (46.3 percent) the main occupation is agriculture. Because of the overwhelming dependence on the agriculture the percentage of households deriving most of their income from trade or other self-employment (artisan or industry) is very low, nearly 9 per cent. As a result of it a huge number of upper caste households are dependent on salary and wage earnings for their principal source of income. In low productivity agrarian economy of Bihar, the existing levels of salary/wage is likely to be very low, causing economic stress for the upper caste households, Ironically among the households dependent or salary and wage earnings, the dependence is higher on ‘irregular’ salary/wage earnings, which is even more disadvantageous. Of the 44.7 percent upper caste Hindu households dependent on salary/wage earnings, no less than 25.0 percent are dependent on irregular salary/wage earning.

According to the 2011 census the share of upper caste Hindus in the total population of Bihar is about 15.0 percent. For the upper caste population in Bihar, the sex ratio is slightly better than the state average in the rural areas, where the sex ratio for upper castes stands at 935, compared to 895 for the entire population In the urban areas, however, the sex ratio for upper castes (898) is worse than that for the general population (921).

There is the general perception that the sons and daughters of the upper castes are highly educated. But this is notion is not correct. Little doubt the literacy rates for the upper caste population in Bihar is 75.6 percent in rural areas and 85.9 percent in the urban areas. But this figure also underlines that no less than one-fourth of the upper caste population in rural Bihar is still illiterate, and are obviously socially disadvantaged, in spite of the advantage they enjoy in caste hierarchy. In the urban areas about one-seventh of the upper caste population lacks this elementary life-skill.

Apart from finding the extent of educational exclusion among the upper caste population in Bihar, the survey had also tried to locate the reasons for such exclusion. For young males it is interesting to note that it is the poverty of the households which is the main reason for some of them to remain outside the purview of formal education. Since most of the educational institutions in Bihar are run by the government even now where educational expenses are rather low, it is obvious that those upper caste households who do not send all their young members to school/college are not just poor, but they are indeed very poor. In rural areas, such severe poverty accounts for 49.0 percent of the young upper caste Hindus not going to school/college; for the young upper caste Muslims, the figure is much higher at 61.8 percent.

One may expect that a majority of the boys and girls belonging to the upper caste would opt for private educational institutions. But this is not true, except for the upper caste Hindu population in urban Bihar. In their case, 32.7 of the students opt for costly private institutions, and another 23.7 percent for low-cost private institutions, totalling to 56.4 percent opting for private institutions. But even for them, it needs to be borne in mind that no less than 42.9 percent of students still opt for government institutions where the educational expenses are the least, indicating limited economic resources of their parents. Ironically for the school going children of upper castes the availability of books is a problem. In the rural areas, 8.2 percent of upper caste Hindu students suffer from either moderate or serious book-deficiency. In the urban areas, this deficiency is relatively less 4.7 percent. Strange enough the unscientific ‘jharphuk’ for treatment is common not only in the rural areas, but in urban areas as well amongst the upper castes. In the rural areas, 20.2 percent of the upper caste Hindu households believe in ‘jharphuk’.

In the rural areas, the average household income for upper caste Hindu household is Rs. 2.42 lakh, which is higher than that for general population. But, the upper caste Muslims, with an average household income of Rs. 1.99 lakh, are worse off than the general population. In the urban areas, the economy is more diversified and one may expect higher share of income from self-employment, particularly when the educational levels are higher for the upper caste population. But the combined share of self-employment in total income (agriculture, trade, artisan/industry, and other self-employment) is only 21.4 percent for upper caste Hindu households. Remittances are equally important for the upper caste households. Remittances account for 11.5 percent of the total income for upper caste Hindu households in rural areas;.

The poverty ratio for the overall population for Bihar was 34.1 percent in rural areas, and 31.2 percent in urban areas, implying an overall poverty ratio of 33.7 percent, relating to the year 2011-12.

The economic loss due to the non-participation of females in gainful activities is substantial for all upper castes. Nevertheless the size of the working female population is very small even in the urban areas 7.6 percent for the upper caste female Hindus, and 7.4 percent for the upper caste female Muslims. Compared to this, the size of the working population among the females is noticeably higher at 10.4 percent for the general population. Two castes, which record higher participation of women in economic work, are Kayasths in Hindus (12.2 percent) and Syeds in Muslims (10.9 percent).

Surprisingly majority of the workers in rural areas,66.3 percent of the upper caste Hindu workers are only salary/wage earners, with or without a regular income. Obviously, they form a distinct disadvantaged category. Among the upper caste Hindus in rural areas, 32.3 percent are wage/salary earners with a regular income, while 34.0 percent of salary/wage earners have only irregular income. Such disadvantaged position in the labour market is a common phenomenon for the general population. But the disadvantage is quite acute for the so-called privileged castes.

The educational status of a population commands great significance in the context of not only its social and economic status, but its political and cultural status as well. It is the level of education that determines the ability of a person to discharge various economic and social functions that contribute to the growth and prosperity of the community.

The practice of out-migration, either within or outside the state, to look for employment opportunities is quite common in Bihar. In the past, such out-migration for employment was relatively higher for workers belonging to the lower castes; but in the recent decades, the practice has spread to upper caste as well. In the rural areas the number of migrants per 100 households is as high as 45.0. A majority of them (71.9 percent) are semi-permanent migrants who stay in their places of destinations for reasonably long period and then return to their home, probably to again migrate later.

The level of income of a household would generally indicate its 'ability' to pay for various consumption needs. The relatively modest standard of living of the upper caste population in Bihar is indicated by their practice of subscribing to a daily newspaper In the rural areas, the percentage of households not buying a newspaper is 83.0 percent among the upper caste Hindus, In the urban areas too nearly 34.5 percent of the upper caste Hindu households cannot afford to buy a newspaper daily. (IPA Service)