Opinion Missing from Bihar election and politics: What Dalits want and need

Health, education, employment and dignity – SC communities in Bihar lag on all these indicators

Dalits in Bihar warrant comprehensive measures for the social, educational, and economic advancement. Setting up a High-Power Committee under the Chief Minister can accelerate planning, execution and monitoring of all-round development.

Ashok Bharti

October 30, 2025 06:54 PM IST First published on: Oct 30, 2025 at 06:54 PM IST

The old maxim — the proof of the pudding is in the eating — can be rephrased as “the proof of democracy is in its delivery”. For Dalits, nearly one-fifth of Bihar’s population, democracy is yet to deliver what India’s constitution promised – equality, justice, and dignity. As of now, at least five political parties headed by Scheduled Castes or Dalits will be contesting elections in Bihar. Therefore, the question “what Dalits want in Bihar” is neither rhetorical nor academic: It is moral, political, and urgent.

Dalits constitute 19.65 per cent of Bihar’s population, higher than the national average of 16.6 per cent. Among Bihar’s 23 Scheduled Castes, just six — Dusadh, Ravidas, Musahar, Pasi, Dhobi, and Bhuiya — make up over 90 per cent of the Dalit population. The Dusadhs and Ravidasis alone account for nearly 60 per cent, making them the largest communities not only in Bihar but among Dalits across India. Yet, this numerical strength has not translated into social empowerment or economic mobility.

Education

If education is the cornerstone of empowerment, Bihar’s Dalits are standing on a fractured foundation. Only 40 per cent of Dalits are literate, almost 10 percentage points below the national Dalit average and 7 points below Bihar’s overall literacy rate. The gender divide is starker — while the male literacy rate is 66.5 per cent among the Dalits, the female literacy rate is only 43.4 per cent. Among the Musahar, literacy plummets below 20 per cent, among the lowest for any caste group in India.

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Higher education paints an even bleaker picture. Dalits make up barely 5.7 per cent of Bihar’s college and university students, though their population share is nearly 20 per cent. Of more than 38,000 college teachers in Bihar, only 2,145 (5.6 per cent) are Dalits — far below their mandated reservation quota of 17 per cent. What about the mandate, conviction and political will for universal elementary education and Right to Education of Dalits in Bihar?

Livelihood

Only 36.6 per cent of Bihar’s Dalits are engaged in any work — far below the national work participation rate. At a country level, 54.6 per cent of Scheduled Castes have no land and, thus, such a huge chunk leads a workaday life depending upon daily wages. Nearly two-thirds of Dalits have no source of livelihood. Among those who do work, 45 per cent are marginal workers, dependent on seasonal or irregular employment. The percentage of such a section in Bihar’s case can be even higher. In terms of agriculture, Bihar has 16.4 million cultivable units. Out of this, Dalits have only 1.91 million units. So, the State’s 19.65 per cent population has only 11.67 per cent cultivable units. These units owned by Dalits are smaller in size than those owned by others. Bihar has 6.45 million hectares of farmland. Of this, Dalits have just 0.57 million hectares.

Health

The health indicators for Bihar are also disappointing, and this is worse in the case of Dalits. Life expectancy in the state is at 69.3 years, as against the country’s average of 72 years. In the case of Dalits, it is lower at 66 years in Bihar. Infant mortality rate in the state is also higher than the national average. For 1,000 births, the national-level child mortality is 37, while in Bihar it is 47. As for Dalits in Bihar, this goes up to 55 per 1,000 births. The maternal mortality rate (MMR) is also higher in Bihar than the national average of 97 per 100,000 live births. In Bihar’s case, it is at 118, and for Dalits, the MMR is 130.

Threats, violence, contempt

The most worrying part is the continuing violence, intimidation, humiliation and contempt that Dalits often have to face, mostly at the hands or at the behest of their privileged counterparts. The unjust and harsh treatment meted out to them is meant to demean them and break their spirit and will to move up and claim their rightful place in a social milieu.

According to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau, crimes against Dalits have been on the rise in Bihar in 2023, compared to the previous two years. As many as 7,064 cases of crime or atrocities against SCs were registered in the year 2023, while 6,509 cases were recorded under this category in 2022 and 5,842 cases in 2021.

During the past 13 years, or since 2010 and until 2022, no less than 78,620 offences were committed against SCs. These include 1,053 cases of murder, 784 rapes, 231 kidnappings and 557 cases of arson. Crimes against SC women have consistently been rising, and cases of brutalisation of minors or children have also been reported.

Addressing the needs of Dalits

Dalits in Bihar warrant comprehensive measures for social, educational, and economic advancement. Setting up a High-Power Committee under the Chief Minister can accelerate planning, execution and monitoring of all-round development. However, such development efforts require significant financial resources and allocations. This can easily be guaranteed by passing an SC/ST Development Act that makes population proportionate non-lapsable annual budget for them mandatory.

To curb caste-based atrocities, the government must create a credible, accountable mechanism headed by the Chief Justice of the state’s High Court. For the economic empowerment and inclusion of Dalits, Bihar can follow the Union government’s model of setting up a dedicated fund promoting entrepreneurship and their inclusion in the procurement of goods and services. Implementation of the Dr Bandopadhyay Committee recommendations can help Bihar’s most marginalised significantly. This author knows that the Bihar government owns lakhs of hectares of land across Bihar, but it has to have the courage to distribute the same among the landless Dalits. There are many other ways that the government can use to improve the representation of SCs and STs in the judiciary, media, and other places. The government’s legal work can accommodate SC/ST advocates.

Political leadership needs to envision inclusive governance, equitable resource distribution, and dignified empowerment of Bihar’s most marginalised Dalits. Unless political parties and their electoral manifestos address these issues, the pudding will remain bitter and tasteless.

The writer is the Chairman of National Confederation of Dalit and Adivasi Organisations (NACDAOR)