Sachar panel mulls Muslim quota

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New Delhi: The Justice Rajendra Sachar Panel report on the social, economic and educational status of Indian Muslims makes a strong case for reservation for Muslims.

CNN-IBN has exclusive access to the recommendations made by the panel, which suggest that the economic status of Muslims was below that of OBcs and in some instances, even dalits.

The Indian Express was the first newspaper to publish the data-based findings of the Sachar Panel.

The panel says madrassa education is not the future and suggests setting up of more English and Urdu-medium government schools in Muslim-dominated areas. It also argues in favour of allocating 15 per cent of funds from different Union Ministries for the welfare of the Muslims.

The panel has also recommended more representation for Muslims in sectors like healthcare and teaching, and sensitisation of all government employees towards the requirements of the community.

The panel, which was appointed by the Prime Minister, will be submitting its report by the middle of this month.

The big issue emerging from the report is reservation for Muslims. While the Sachar panel avoids any reference to it, its silence is more than eloquent in a chapter on the OBCs. In this chapter, the general non-OBC Muslim is shown to be living in more degraded condition than the Hindu OBC. This, experts say, makes a strong case for reservation for the entire Muslim community, barring the Creamy Layer.

Insiders in the Sachar Panel have told CNN-IBN that there is a way to introduce the recommendations. Muslim intellectuals are of the opinion that out of the 27 per cent reservations for OBCs, at least 10 per cent should be reserved for Muslims (except the Creamy Layer). However, this recommendation has not made it to the final report of the panel.

Recommendations of Sachar Panel

Some key highlights of the recommendations are:

Sachar panel finds that madrassa education is not the future. It wants more English and Urdu medium government schools in areas dominated by Muslims.

It also argues in favour of allocating 15 per cent of all Government funds to Muslims under all central schemes.

The panel wants more representation for Muslims in sectors like health and teaching.

It also recommends sensitisation of all government employees towards Muslim requirements.

But the big issue is reservation for Muslims. While Sachar panel avoids any reference to it, its silence is more than eloquent in a chapter on OBCs.

In this chapter, the general non-OBC Muslim is shown to be living in more degraded condition than the Hindu OBC.

Thereby a strong case is made for reservations for the entire Muslim community except the Creamy Layer.

Minority benefits not trickling down: PM

With a nationwide debate on the status of Muslims gaining momentum, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday made several observations on the problems faced by the minority community.

"Available evidence shows that benefits of the schemes meant for the minorities are not reaching out to the Muslim sector," Manmohan Singh said.

Singh, who maintained that the nation 'does not belong to any single race', said young people from minority communities should be provided with skills required for employment.

"It is essential that communal peace and harmony should be maintained and the minorities get a fair share in central and state government and private sector jobs," he told a conference of state minorities commissions in New Delhi.

Also, he said state chief ministers have been asked to put in place a monitoring mechanism over implementation of minority welfare schemes.

Singh, who pointed out that a lack of access to common school system was the main factor behind the socio-economic backwardness of minority communities, said the government should work to ensure greater access for Muslim girls to professional education.

"During the current plan period and the next one, we must ensure that concrete schemes for setting up of secondary and higher-secondary schools in blocks and districts having predominantly Muslim population are implemented for the Muslim girls," he remarked.

Widening access for Muslim women to professional education, particularly to medical and engineering courses, should be a priority area of educational programmes, Singh added.

"This nation does not belong to any single race, least of all any group of religious extremists. It belongs to a mosaic of religiously, linguistically and culturally varied communities," he said.

Tracking the Muslim quota story

October 2005: The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed a Bill providing five per cent reservation for Muslims in educational institutions and Government services.

November 2005: The Andhra Pradesh High Court passed an order against the implementation the Muslim Community Act 2005, that provided for 5 per cent reservation for muslims. The court pointed out that the percentage of reservations shall not exceed 50%, and in this case it was 51 per cent. It also said that reservations on religious basis would be against Constitution.

January 2006: In an interim order, the Supreme Court refused to stay the Andhra Pradesh High Court judgement.

July 2006: A Supreme court bench declined the prayer made by state of Andhra seeking a stay against the Supreme Court order.