Patna: More than 40% of the total 2.76 crore families in Bihar still have no concrete roof over their heads. Of them, 63,840 families have no option but to sleep under open sky, revealed the caste and economic survey conducted by the state government.
The startling revelation came to the fore when the state government laid the 216-page survey report in the state legislature on Tuesday. The report states that 36.76% or 1.01 crore families have pucca houses of two or more rooms, while 22.37% (61.89 lakh families) have single room concrete accommodation. About 26.54% families or 73.44 households have tin shed to live in and 14.09% or 38.99% live in huts. Around 0.24% don’t have any permanent address.
22.30 lakh forward castes’ families have two plus room houses
The survey report further reveals that 51.54% or 22.30 lakh families of the total 43.28 lakh families belonging to unreserved categories, which constitute of Brahmins, Bhumihars, Rajputs and Kayasthas (among Hindues), and Sheikhs, Syeds and Pathans (among Muslims), have concrete houses with two or more rooms, while 43.47% or 32.49 families of total 74.73 lakh families belonging to the backward classes have concrete house of the similar characters.
Also Read: PM inaugurates EWS flats to rehabilitate Delhi’s slum dwellers
Among EBCs (extremely backward classes), 32.61%, or 32.22 families out of total 98.84 lakh families, have two or more than two rooms concrete houses to live. Similarly, 24.26% or 13.27 lakh families of the scheduled caste (SC) out of total 54.72 lakh families have houses with two or more rooms. About 25.81% or 1.21 lakh families of the scheduled tribes of the total 4.70 lakh families have concrete houses.
SC families dominate in having one-room pucca houses
As per the report, the SC families are slightly better than other castemen, including those of upper castes with regard to possession pucca houses with one room accommodation. About 23.69% or 12.96 lakh of the total 54.72 lakh families in the SC category have one-room house, followed by 22.96% or 22.69 lakh families of the 98.84 lakh families from EBCs groups. Among the upper castes, of the total 43.28 lakh families, 22.95% or 9.93 lakh have one room concrete houses while among backward classes, 20.65% or 15.43 lakh families of the total 74.73 families have one room concrete houses.
Also read: Centre to launch new interest subvention scheme for urban housing
EBCs, SCs and STs outnumber upper castes in having tin shed accommodation
Families from EBCs, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes outnumber upper castes and backward classes in terms of having tiled roof houses or tin shed accommodation. The report says that 28.71% or 28.37 lakh families of the total 98.84 lakh families from EBCs (comprising 112 caste groups) live in tiled roof/ tin shed houses, followed by 28.34% or 15.50 lakh families of the total 54.72 lakh families from scheduled castes. In the scheduled tribe category, a staggering 40.96% or 1.92 lakh families of the total 4.70 lakh families live in tiled roof /tin shed houses.
54.72 lakh SC families still live in huts
Among those living in huts, the highest number of people belong to scheduled caste groups, with 23.45% families of the total 54.72 lakh households, followed by 16.08% families from scheduled tribe. Only 5.89 % or 2.54 lakh families from general category out of total 43.28 lakh families in this group live in huts in the state.
Majority of upper caste families homeless
Talking of the homeless, 13,303 families from the general category (0.31% of total 43.28 lakh families) own no house in the state, followed by 0.28% from scheduled tribes, 0.26% from scheduled castes, 0.23% from EBCs, 0.16% from other backward classes.
Also Read: Bihar govt to provide residential accommodation to all teachers
Kayasthas top upper caste families in having spacious houses
Among upper castes, 69.37% of Kayasthas (1.18 lakh families out of total 1.70 lakh) have concrete houses (with two or more rooms), followed by Bhumihars (61.72% or 5.17 lakh families out of 8.38 lakh), Rajputs (59.28% or 5.65 lakh families out of total 9.53 lakh) and Brahmins (53.24% or 5.73 lakh families out of total 10.76 lakh). Among upper castes in Muslims, 56% of Syeds have concrete houses with two or more rooms, followed by Pathans (50.05%) and Sheikhs (31.51%).
Yadavs rule spacious house tally among backward classes
Reports say that 41.41% of Yadav households (15.97 families of the total 38.58 lakh) have concrete houses (two or more rooms), lagging behind Kushwahas (49.78% or 5.89 lakh families of the total 11.83 lakh) and Kurmis (50.36% or 4.06 lakh families of the total 8.07 lakh). Baniyas are better off, with 58.16% or 3.79 lakh families of the total 6.53 lakh families having concrete houses (two or more rooms).
Among EBCs, above 20% of the surveyed families from castes like Dhanuk, Kanu, Teli, Chandravansi, Prajapati (Kumhar), Kamar, Bind, Barahi and Idrishi or Darzi (Muslim) have concrete houses with two or more than two rooms.
