Twenty years under Lalu, twenty years under the so-called “Vikas Purush” Nitish Kumar — yet Bihar’s Dalits remain trapped in misery. The self-proclaimed leaders of Dalits have, in reality, turned into brokers of Dalit votes.
Townhall Times — The Bihar elections are around the corner, and every political party has unleashed a flurry of grand promises and deceptive claims. It almost appears as if, once they win, Bihar and its people — including Dalits — will be transformed into a paradise. But the reality tells a different story. Once the elections are over, the candidates turn into kings, while the Dalits of Bihar remain exactly where they were — just as neglected and impoverished as they were fifty years ago. This is not a political slogan but a statistical truth supported by the government’s own data.
According to the caste-based survey conducted by the Bihar government in 2023, the state’s total population stands at approximately 13.07 crore, out of which Scheduled Castes (SC) constitute about 2.57 crore, or 19.65%. In 2011, their share was 15.91%, which means the numbers have grown but the conditions haven’t improved. The survey reveals that 42.93% of SC families live in poverty, surviving on less than ₹6,000 per month. This is significantly higher than the state average of 34.13%, while among the upper castes, the poverty rate is only 25%.
Nearly 5 million people from Bihar — a large number of them from SC/ST communities — have migrated to other states for work or education. The educational scenario is equally bleak: only 7% of the state’s population are graduates, while among SCs, this figure drops to just 3.12%. Only 5.76% of SCs have completed higher secondary education (class 11-12), compared to the state average of 9%.
In terms of property and access to facilities, the Dalit community remains at the bottom. Around 95.49% of the state’s population do not own any vehicle, and the figure is even higher among SC/ST households. Ownership of laptops or computers is extremely rare, and internet connectivity among SC/STs is as low as 0.39–0.44%. Despite constitutional reservations, their actual representation in government jobs remains negligible.
Only 26.76% of SC/ST families in Bihar own a permanent two-room house, approximately 7.95 million households in total. According to the education department’s data, between 2010 and now, around 5,000–6,000 government schools have been shut down or merged — most of them located in Dalit-dominated areas. The reasons include declining enrolment, lack of infrastructure, and sheer governmental neglect. In 2023–24 alone, school enrolment dropped by nearly 8.7 million.
This is happening in a state that has seen twenty years of Lalu’s rule and another twenty under Nitish Kumar — the so-called architects of Bihar’s “development.” Yet, the Dalit of Bihar remains where he always was: impoverished, neglected, and politically exploited. The tragic irony is that those who call themselves the saviors of Dalits have now become the most shameless traders of Dalit votes.
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