Mahadalit is a term which was coined in 2007 by the government of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

for the poorest social groups within the

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a ...

s. However, the term "Mahadalit" is not a part of the Indian constitutional terminology.

Composition

The

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unit ...

led

NDA NDA may stand for: Military * National Defence Academy (India), a military academy in India * National Defence Act, legislation for organizing and funding Canada's military * National Defense Academy of Japan, a military academy in Japan * Nig ...

government in Bihar set up the State Mahadalit Commission in the year 2007 to recommended inclusion of extremely weaker castes amongst the Scheduled Castes in the Mahadalit category. The commission has recognized Bihar's 21

Scheduled Castes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

out of the state's total 22 Scheduled Castes as the Mahadalits.

Demographics and occupation

The Dalits form over 15% of the population of Bihar, and the Mahadalits form around 10% of the state's population. According to Mithilesh Kumar, the Mahadalits do not own land and work as

sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

on the farms of the

Yadav Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite, Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern state ...

Politics

During the election year of 2010, Nitish Kumar launched a slew of government schemes to woo mahadalit voters. Nitish said, "My aim is to see the social, economic and political growth of certain castes who need a special campaign for their overall development." The Mahadalit status entails benefits of over a dozen government welfare schemes including free land to the landless.

References

Dalit Politics of Bihar Reservation in India {{bihar-stub