By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: While the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre is evading public and Muslim MPs’ demand for tabulation of the Ranganath Misra Commission report that recommended reservation to Muslims, in the ongoing sessions of Parliament, the government is learnt to be mulling over quota for Pasmanda Muslims.
On November 22 the Union Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid had announced at program on minority welfare schemes in minority districts that the government was not against reservation to Muslims, rather it was considering sub-quota within the OBC quota for Pasmanda Muslims. He had said the government was against reservation to entire Muslim community on religious ground.
Dalit Muslims have long been demanding inclusion in the SC list like Dalit Sikhs and Dalit Buddhists but the government has not yet heeded to the demand. Backward Muslims rougly constitute around 70 per cent of the Muslim population in the country.
It is believed that the reservation to Pasmanda Muslims would be 5 per cent or 6 per cent.
The sub-quota in the OBC is likely to trigger a controversy as Hindu OBCs might be opposing it. Besides, the government is confused about how to implement sub-quota. An official of the minority ministry has been quoted as saying “Either we will have to create a Most Backward Category (MBC) among the existing list or we will have to do a survey to estimate the number of backward Muslims,” the official said.
The central OBC list now includes only 22 backward sections among thousands within the Muslim community.
The government is believed to be thinking on the lines of the quota system in states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala where backward sections among minorities enjoy reservation.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Legislative Assembly passed a bill in 2005, reserving 5 per cent of the seats for Muslims in educational institutions and government service. Tamil Nadu has set aside 3.5 per cent of seats each for backward Muslims and Christians in educational institutions and government jobs. Kerala has a 12 per cent quota for Muslims excluding the creamy layer.