‘Belated lolliopop dangled by Nitish govt’: RJD targets JD(U) amid push to include 18 castes in central OBC list

Saralnama

Weeks ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls, the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has asked the Bihar government to provide data related to the socio-economic and educational backwardness of 18 castes that the state has sought to include in the central list of Other Backward Classes (OBC). This has irked the RJD, which termed the entire exercise a “belated lollipop dangled by the Nitish government”. The 18 caste groups are Batham Vaishya, Biyahut Kalwar, Chhippi, Donwar, Sayee/Fakir/Diwan (Muslim), Goldar, Gosai, Laxmi Narayan Gola, Madriya (Muslim), Sainthwar, Modak/Mayra, Samri Vaishya, Surjapuri Muslim, Sutradhar, Bhat (Muslim), Godi, Partha and Itpaj/Ibrahimi in the Central OBC list. According to the 2023 Bihar caste survey, OBCs and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) constitute 27% and 36%, respectively, of the state’s 13.07 crore population. NCBC chairperson Hansraj Ahir held a public hearing — the fourth on… (Updated 13 Oct 2025, 18:05 IST; source: link)

Key Points

• Weeks ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls, the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has asked the Bihar government to provide data related to the socio-economic and educational backwardness of 18 castes that the state has sought to include in the central list of Other Backward Classes (OBC)
• This has irked the RJD, which termed the entire exercise a “belated lollipop dangled by the Nitish government ”
• The 18 caste groups are Batham Vaishya, Biyahut Kalwar, Chhippi, Donwar, Sayee/Fakir/Diwan (Muslim), Goldar, Gosai, Laxmi Narayan Gola, Madriya (Muslim), Sainthwar, Modak/Mayra, Samri Vaishya, Surjapuri Muslim, Sutradhar, Bhat (Muslim), Godi, Partha and Itpaj/Ibrahimi in the Central OBC list