Bengali Report - Bengalee Association Bihar

SECTION IV
CONCLUSIONS
The size of the Bengali population in Bihar, according to 2001 census, was 4.43
lakhs, which is estimated to reach the figure of 5.30 lakhs in 2011. It is quite likely
that this is an underestimate of the size of the Bengali population in Bihar, and
some knowledgeable sources put the figure to be around 12 lakhs. The history of
Bengali population in Bihar is very long and, because of their long stay in the state,
a majority of them are as much a Bihari as any other, except that their mother
tongue is Bengali, not Hindi. Contrary to the general impression, a substantial
portion of the Bengali population lives in rural areas of the state. These rural
Bengali population includes those who are original residents of the state, as well as
a substantial number of refugee or Bengali population, settled mostly in West
Champaran and East Champaran.
The Bengali population in Bihar constitutes a linguistic minority in the state and face
a number of social and economic problems. In the past, the Bihar Bengali
Association had repeatedly approached the state government to redress various
difficulties faced by them, and the state government have already taken some
positive steps in that direction. However, to identify a comprehensive policy towards
the Bengali population, particularly the refugee population, the Hon’ble Chief
Minister had requested the Bihar Bengali Association to prepare a comprehensive
document on their socio-economic status and the specific problems faced by them.
The Bihar Bengali Association had then requested the Bihar State Minorities
Commission to undertake the task. The Commission, in turn, had requested the
Centre for Economic Policy and Public Finance (CEPPF) at the Asian Development
Research Institute (ADRI) to prepare the required document, in view of their past
experience for similar assignments. The purpose of the present study is just the
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