By IANS
Nagpur : A separate department for minorities’ welfare will soon be created in Maharashtra in accordance with the recommendations of the Sachar Committee report, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has announced.
A non-political group of experts will also be set up to conduct a district-wise survey of socio-economic conditions of Muslims in the state, Deshmukh informed the legislative council Monday during his reply to a debate on the implementation of the Sachar Committee report on the status of the community in India.
Scholarship to Muslim students, representation of Muslims on the selection committee for Class I and Class II posts and allotment of residential plots and houses proportionate to the community’s percentage in the population in the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) schemes were among the other steps announced.
He said that a policy decision on reservations to the Muslim community would be considered only after studying inputs on various related issues from the Minorities Commission.
Segregation of 44 backward castes among Muslims in different categories like other backward classes (OBC), nomadic tribes and vimukta jati had already been made to extend existing facilities to them, the chief minister said.