By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
Bangalore: For the first time in the history of Karnataka, 29 Muslim candidates have been selected for the Karnataka Administrative Services (KAS) against 403 posts. Of 29, 10 are women. In all, 99 women have been selected for KAS. Most of the Muslim candidates (18) have been selected under the 4% reservation quota for the community. In total 160 Muslim candidates had appeared for the test. Muslim constitutes 12% of the population of the state. On the other hand, Brahmins who constitute nearly 4% of the state population grabbed 30% positions in KAS.
The success story of the Muslim candidates reveal that poverty or lack of resources can hardly be a hindrance for those who have will to achieve something. Many of the Muslim candidates come from poor families.
Meet Akram Pasha. He has been selected for the post of Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes. His father? A driver. Pasha was lecturer before being selected for this position. This is Shakila Yasmeen, a young widow. She will now be Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies. She was working at his husband’s position as a first division clerk. Similar is the story of Zohra Jabeen. His father runs a bicycle shop. But Jabeen will now be Tahsildar.
Though the selected 403 candidates appeared for the KPSC examination in 1999, the selection procedure was delayed due to litigation and irregularities. In the 1997 KPSC batch, 26 Muslims were selected out of 390 total candidates.