The Bind are a

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...

found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Chattisgarh and Tripura. Bind are under the OBC category of the central list.

Present circumstances

The Bind are among 17

Other Backwards Class The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...

communities that have been proposed for Scheduled Caste status by the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as well. With ...

-controlled

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh ( ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of ...

. However, this proposal, which relates to

votebank politics Votebank (also spelled vote-bank or vote bank), in the political discourse of India, is a term referring to a loyal bloc of voters from a single community, who consistently back a certain candidate or political formation in democratic elections. S ...

and has been made in the past, has been stayed by the courts; a prior attempt was also rejected by the Centre. The Bind have a traditional caste council and, like other occupational castes, maintain strict social control over members. They are Hindu, and customs similar to other similar groupings such as the

Kewat The Kewat, also spelled Kevat, is a Hindu caste, found in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India. They are the traditional boatmen of northern India.People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume ...

. They are concentrated in eastern

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, and speak

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

.People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part One edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 333 In Bihar, the Jethaut are mainly engaged in fishing, well sinking and basket making, the Noniya are salt manufacturers, while the Kharaut are mainly farmers. They speak the Maithili dialect of

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

.People of India Bihar Volume XVI Part One edited by S Gopal & Hetukar Jha pages 184 to 186 Seagull Books

Present circumstances

References

Further reading