‘Dalits continue to face neglect amid development claims in Bihar: Report
‘62% of Dalits in the state remain illiterate, 63% are unemployed’
New Delhi: A new report by the National Confederation of Dalit and Adivasi Organisations (NACDAOR) has exposed the deep neglect and deprivation faced by Dalits in Bihar despite decades of political promises and tall claims of development by successive governments.
According to Kashmir Media Service, titled “Bihar – What Dalit Want,” the report was recently released at the Press Club of India, New Delhi, following the announcement of the Bihar Assembly elections by the Central Election Commission. The study underscores that Dalits have been left out of the so-called development narrative in the state.
The survey, based on direct interactions with 18,581 Dalit families across 25 districts including Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, and Darbhanga, revealed that most Dalits continue to live in conditions marked by poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, lack of land ownership, and inadequate housing.
According to NACDAOR Chairman Ashok Bharti, the report is intended to amplify Dalit voices that are consistently suppressed during elections. “Every fifth person in Bihar is a Dalit, yet their concerns rarely find space in electoral debates,” Bharti said. “Our survey shows that those who lost their land and homes in the name of development are the ones who remain the most disadvantaged today.”
He said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was painting a misleading picture of progress. “Nitish Kumar has been hailed as the ‘development man’ for two decades, but our data tells a very different story,” he said.
The report’s findings show that 62% of Dalits in Bihar remain illiterate, 63% are unemployed, and the average monthly income is only Rs 6,480. Bharti also highlighted that the budget share for Dalits has declined from 2.59% in 2013-14 to just 1.29% under the current BJP-led Indian government.
“The government built roads and bridges, but at the cost of demolishing Dalit homes in several districts. The question remains: when every fifth Bihari is a Dalit, why is there no place for them in Nitish Kumar’s so-called good governance?” Bharti questioned.
The NACDAOR report also examined issues such as education, employment, health, land rights, and atrocities against Dalits, concluding that Bihar’s development model has failed to address the persistent structural inequalities faced by the community.
