Bihar CM orders end to caste–based police kitchens

Patna – In the wake of shocking reports about separate police kitchens based on caste system, the new Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, has directed the Home Secretary H. C. Sirohi to look into the facts personally and if found to be true, put a stop to it instantly.

As reported in several media, the practice of separate kitchens based on one's caste at police lines in Bihar had been going on for several decades and no state government actually bothered to put an end to the ugly and debasing practice.

According to the report, there are separate kitchens for Brahmin, Bhumihar, Rajput, Yadav and Muslim policemen with one caste of policemen not allowed to eat at another caste kitchen.

The Home Secretary said he has instructed the Director General of Police (DGP) Ashish Ranjan Sinha to take necessary steps and make arrangement for a common kitchen for all policemen to put an end to the practice once and for all.

At a press conference in Patna, the Chief Minister said that he was stunned and embarrassed by the reports of caste kitchens at police lines and this was the first time he had ever heard of it. "In today's age, there is no room for such discriminating practices. The system of caste kitchens does not go with the image of the modern and secular police. Neither the Constitution nor the morality permits such behavior and we must end it without wasting even a single day," Kumar said.

"The system is deplorable and it is a source of caste and communal hatred among cops," he added.