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Chain (caste)
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The Chain or Chai are a Kshatriya caste and are caste mainly found in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. They are traditionally associated with agriculture and fishing.
West Bengal[edit | edit source]
In West Bengal, although the Chain community is widely dispersed through the state, the Government granted Scheduled Castes (SC) status only to Chain members in four districts: Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia and Dakshin Dinajpur. Accordingly, the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 specifically reported the Chain only in these locations. The total Chain population in West Bengal is more than 3.5 million and the Chain population in India is estimated to be around 10 million. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes was reported in 2015 to be initiating a process to extend SC status to the community throughout West Bengal.