ST status to Musahars in Bihar likely

Bihar’s dirt- poor Musahar community, a sub- caste among dalits occupying the lowest place in the state’s caste hierarchy and known for its widespread illiteracy and still prevailing customary vocation of catching rats, is likely to be bestowed with the Scheduled Tribe status in an ambiguous elevation from their current mahadalit status.

Sources in the ruling JD( U) indicated that preliminary exercises would soon start towards securing the inclusion of the Musahars into the ST category after chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, himself a Musahar, asked for the move. Mr Manjhi, the first ever Musahar to become chief minister — Bihar’s 243- member Assembly has only eight Musahar MLAs — is apparently keen on making a mark on this extremely marginalised community by ensuring its progress through the granting of ST status.

Mr Manjhi’s mentor and former chief minister Nitish Kumar is known and widely lauded for his multifarious commitments for the Musahars’ progress. Mr Nitish Kumar had created the mahadalit category out of the dalits in 2007 for the most marginalised groups among them.

“Musahar” is roughly translated as “rat eaters”, and many in the community in rural Bihar still catch and eat rats. Literacy rate among the Musahars is a meagre 3.7% for males and 1.3% for females. The community is considered a strong, loyal supporter of the JD( U).