Muslims better off than dalits in Bihar: Survey

PATNA: The socio-economic condition of Muslims in the state of Bihar is better than that of the state's dalit Hindus in most districts, but worse than the upper-caste Hindus and Other Backward Castes (OBCs), a survey has found. "Muslims are better placed in comparison to dalits in 31 of 37 districts of Bihar, but Muslims are at the bottom at the national level," Abusaleh Shariff, chairperson of the Delhi-based Centre for Research and Debates in Development Policy, said on the basis of a survey conducted by the Centre in collaboration with the US-India Policy Institute based in Washington DC. The report is based on the 2011 census, when the total population in Bihar stood at 10.5 crore, of which 16.5% were Muslims. Twelve development indicators, including health, education and employment, have been focused upon in the report. Shariff, who was associated with the Sachar Committee report on the status of Indian Muslims, said that like Kerala, the socio-economic condition of Muslims in Bihar had improved fast, thanks to the money-order economy. "A large proportion of Muslim migrants went outside Bihar and abroad in search of livelihood, and sent remittances that contributed to improve socio-economic condition of their families," he said. According to the survey report, compared to 12.2% of upper-caste individuals, 13.5% rural Muslims have jobs, and against 19% urban upper-caste residents, 17.3% urban Muslims get job opportunities.