इसको मत पढो अन्ना हजारे की बुरे है इसमे

Report of the Prime Minister’s High Level Committee

(headed by Justice Rajindar Sachar)

on Social, Economic and Educational Status of the

Muslim Community of India

Summarised by Dr. Syed Zafar Mahmood

The Milli Gazette

13 December 2006

While issuing notification during March 2005 the Prime Minister’s Office had 

noted that there is

lack of authentic information about the social, economic and educational status 

of the Muslim

community of India. The PMO had observed that such lack of information 

comes in the way of

planning, formulating and implementing specific interventions, policies and 

programmes to

address the issues relating to the socio-economic backwardness of this 

community. Hence, the

Prime Minister’s High Level Committee was mandated to obtain relevant 

information from

departments / agencies of the Central and State Governments and also 

conduct an intensive

literature survey to identify published data, articles and research on relevant 

status of Muslims in

India. The Committee was to find out the asset base and income levels of 

Muslims relative to

other groups across various states and regions. It had to find out the level of 

socio-economic

development of Muslims in terms of relevant indicators such as religious rate, 

drop out rate,

MMR, IMR etc. What is their relative share in public and private sector 

employment? Is this

share in proportion to their population in various states? If not, what are the 

hurdles? The

Committee was to find the proportion of OBCs from the Muslim community in 

the total OBC

population. Are the Muslim OBCs listed in the comprehensive list of OBCs, 

prepared by the

National and State Backward Classes Commissions. What is the share of 

Muslim OBCs in the

total public sector employment for OBCs. The Committtee had also to find out 

whether the

Muslim community has adequate access to the education and health services, 

municipal

infrastructure, bank credit and other services provided by the Government and 

public sector

entities. This was to be compared with the access enjoyed by the other 

communities. What is the

level of social infrastructure (schools, health centres, ICDS centres etc.) 

located in areas of

Muslim concentration in comparison to the general level of such infrastructure. 

The Committee

was to identify areas of intervention by the Government to address the 

relevant issues relating to

the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community.

2. The Report which was presented to the Prime Minister on 17 November 

2006 and was tabled

in Parliament on 30 November 2006 has twelve chapters. Chapter I is 

introductory. Chapter II

talks of Public Perceptions and Perspectives gathered by the Committee during 

its widespread

interaction with the people and their representatives while it visited 13 most 

Muslim populous

states and organized 5 Round Table Conferences in Delhi. Chapter III deals 

with the population

size, distribution and health conditions of Muslims etc. In the subsequent 

chapters the Committee

has analyzed the educational condition of Muslims, their economy and 

employment, their access

to bank credits, their access to social and physical infrastructure, their poverty 

level and standard

of living, their participation in government employment and programmes and 

empirical situation

of Muslim OBCs. There is a separate chapter of Wakfs talking about economic 

potential of Wakf

assets, constraints regarding the fulfillment of Wakf objectives and 

suggestions for overcoming

such constraints. In the last chapter the Committee has given its 

recommendations.

3. The Committee noted that the public opinion in India was divided on 

reservation. Some

argued that policies that promote equality must aim at a substantive equal 

outcome, not merely

formal equal or identical treatment. Reservations or a separate quota for 

Muslims in employment

and educational institutions was viewed as a means to achieve this. Others felt 

that reservations

could become a thorny issue and have negative repercussions. Still others 

argued that good

educational facilities combined with non-discriminatory practices are adequate 

for Muslims to

compete. Those who argued for reservation policies often differed on who 

should be their

beneficiary. Some argued that this facility should only be available to ‘dalit’ 

Muslims, while

others suggested that the entire Community should benefit from it. For some 

an economic

criterion was an ideal basis for reservations. They felt that this would fail to 

address the problem

arising out of social discrimination. There were voices that questioned the non-

availability of the

Schedule Caste quota for Muslims while it was available to the followers of 

three religions.

4. A large cross section of the people was of the conviction that political 

participation and

representation in governance structures are essential to achieve equity. Many 

alleged that

participation is denied to Muslims through a variety of mechanisms. While it 

was pointed out

that many names of Muslims were missing in the voter lists of a number of 

states, the

Committee’s attention was also drawn to the issue of Muslim concentration 

constituencies of

Assemblies and Parliament declared as reserved for Schedule Caste persons 

while constituencies

with very low Muslim population but high SC concentration remain unreserved. 

Hence, it was

argued that Muslims are being systematically denied political participation. 

The Committee

collected data from all over the country in the light of which the second 

allegation regarding

reservation of constituencies was found to be correct. For the first allegation 

the Committee did

not collect any data.

5. In the field of literacy the Committee found that the rate among Muslims 

was far below the

national average. The gap between Muslims and the general average is 

greater in urban areas and women. 25 per cent of Muslim children in the 6-14 

year age group have either never attended

school or have dropped out. Expansion of educational opportunities since 

Independence has not

led to a convergence of attainment levels between Muslims and all others. 

Drop out rates among

Muslims are higher at the level of primary, middle and higher secondary. The 

Committee

observed that since artisanship is a dominant activity among Muslims technical 

training should

be provided to even those who may not have completed schooling. The 

disparity in graduation

attainment rates is widening since 1970s between Muslims and all other 

categories in both urban

and rural areas. In premier colleges only one out of 25 under-graduate 

students and one out of 50

post-graduate students is a Muslim. Unemployment rate among Muslim 

graduates is the highest

among all socio-religious communities. Only 3% of Muslim children among the 

school going

age go to Madarsas. There is dearth of facilities for teaching Urdu. Lower 

enrolment in Urdu

medium schools is due to limited availability of such schools at the elementary 

level.

6. The Committee found that Muslim parents are not averse to mainstream 

education or to send

their children to affordable Government schools. But the access to government 

schools for

Muslim children is limited. There is non-availability of schools within easy 

reach for girls at

lower levels. Absence of girls hostels and female teachers are also impeding 

factors. The changes

in the educational patterns across the various religious groups and 

communities suggests that the

schedule castes and schedule tribes have definitely reaped the advantages of 

targeted government

and private action supporting their educational progress. This reflects the 

importance of

affirmative action. The sharper focus on school education combined with more 

opportunities in

higher education for Muslims seems desirable. Moreover, skill development 

initiatives for those

who have not completed school education may also be particularly relevant for 

some sections of

Muslims given their occupational structure.

7. Bidi workers, tailors and mechanics need to be provided with social safety 

nets and social

security. The participation of Muslims in the professional and managerial cadre 

is low. Muslim

regular workers are the most vulnerable with no written contract and social 

security benefits.

Muslim regular workers get lower daily earnings in both public and private jobs 

compared to

other socio-religious communities. Since a large number of Muslim workers are 

engaged in

self-employment, skill development and credit related initiatives need to be 

tailored for such

groups.

8. The average amount of bank loan disbursed to the Muslims is 2/3 of the 

amount disbursed to

other minorities. In some cases it is half. The Reserve Bank of India’s efforts to 

extend banking

and credit facilities under the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme of 1983 

has mainly

benefited other minorities marginalizing Muslims. Muslim community is not 

averse to banking

and more improvements can be brought about with specific measures. 

Inadequate targeting and

geographical planning has resulted in a failure to address the economic 

problems of Muslims in

rural areas. Some banks have identified a number of Muslim concentration 

areas as negative

geographical zones where bank credit and other facilities are not easily 

provided. Steps should be

introduced to specifically direct credit to Muslims, create awareness of various 

credit schemes

and bring transparency in reporting of information.

9. There is a clear and significant inverse association between the proportion 

of the Muslim

population and the availability of educational infrastructure in small villages. 

Muslim

concentration villages are not well served with pucca approach roads and local 

bus stops. The

concentration of Muslims in states lacking infrastructural facilities implies that 

a large proportion

of the community is without access to basic services. In both urban and rural 

areas, the

proportion of Muslim households living in pucca houses is lower than the total 

population.

Compared to the Muslim majority areas, the areas inhabiting fewer Muslims 

had better roads,

sewage and drainage and water supply facilities.

10. Substantially larger proportion of the Muslim households in urban areas are 

in the less than

Rs.500 expenditure bracket.

11. The presence of Muslims has been found to be only 3% in the IAS, 1.8% in 

the IFS and 4%

in the IPS. The share of Muslims in employment in various departments is 

abysmally low at all

levels. Muslim community has a representation of only 4.5% in Indian Railways 

while 98.7% of

them are positioned at lower levels. Representation of Muslims is very low in 

the Universities

and in Banks. In no state does the representation of Muslims in the 

government departments

match their population share. Their share in police constables is only 6%, in 

health 4.4%, in

transport 6.5%. There is need to ensure a significant presence of Muslims 

especially in those

departments that have mass contact on a day to day basis or are involved in 

sensitive tasks.

Targeted programmes are required to be put in place. The coverage of Muslims 

in ICDS

programme is poor in most states. For the Maulana Azad Education Foundation 

to be effective

the corpus fund needs to be increased to 1000 crores. Total allocation in the 

four years 2002 to

2006 for Madarsa Modernization Scheme is 106 crores. The information 

regarding the Scheme

has not adequately percolated down. Even if the share of Muslims in elected 

bodies is low they

and other under represented segments can be involved in the decision making 

process through

innovative mechanisms.

12. The Presidential Order of 1950 is inconsistent with Article 14, 15, 16 and 25 

of the

Constitution that guarantee equality of opportunity, freedom of conscience and 

protect the

citizens from discrimination by the State on grounds of religion, caste or creed.

Most of the variables indicate that Muslim-OBCs are significantly deprived in 

comparison to

Hindu-OBCs. The work participation rate (WPR) shows the presence of a sharp 

difference

between Hindu-OBCs (67%) and the Muslims. The share of Muslim-OBCs in 

government/ PSU

jobs is much lower than Hindu-OBCs. Out of every hundred workers about 

eleven are

Hindu-OBCs, only three are Muslim-Gen and one is a Muslim-OBC. The monthly 

Per Capita

Expenditure of Muslims is much lower than the national average. Benefits of 

entitlements meant

for the backward classes are yet to reach Muslim OBCs. The condition of 

Muslims in general is

also lower than the Hindu-OBCs who have the benefit of reservations.

13. There are about 5 lakh registered Wakfs with 6 lakh acre land and Rs 6,000 

crore book value.

But the gross income from all these properties is only 163 crores i.e. 2.7%. The 

management of

Wakf Boards is unsatisfactorily due to inadequate empowerment of the State Wakf Boards and
Centreal Wakf Council. Encroachment of Wakf properties by the State is a common practice.
The attitude of the State Governments and their agencies has resulted in large scale abrogation of
the cherished objectives of the Wakfs. Fresh institutional support is essential. A number of Wakf
properties have been acquired although compensation was not paid. High legislative,
administrative and judicial priority should be accorded to Wakf matters in order to improve the
management of about five lakh properties across India. The Chairman and Members of the State
Wakf Boards can be selected from a list of eminent persons in each state. The Government
should create a new cadre of officers with knowledge of Islamic law to deal with the specific
affairs of the Wakfs efficiently. A National Wakf Development Corporation and State
Corporations should be established. The lease period of Wakf properties may be increased up to
30 years where the property is used for education, health care and other purposes consistent with
the objects of the Wakf provided the lessee is a registered society or a registered trust doing
charity work. Wakf properties should be exempted from Rent Control Act and Land Acquisition
Act. Wakf Tribunal should be manned by full time presiding officers appointed exclusively for
Wakf purposes. The Public Premises Eviction Act should be applied to remove encroachments
from Wakf properties. Failure on the part of the state and statutory bodies entrusted with
safeguarding Wakf properties has caused disquiet in the Muslim community.
Recommendations

14. The Muslim community exhibits deficits and deprivation in practically all dimensions of
development. Mechanisms to ensure equity and equality of opportunity to bring about inclusion
should be such that diversity is achieved and at the same time the perception of discrimination is
eliminated. Creation of a National Data Bank (NDB) where all relevant data for various Socio
Religious Communities are maintained has been recommended along with an autonomous
Assessment and Monitoring Authority to evaluate the extent of development benefits which
accrue to different Socio Religious Communities through various programmes. An Equal
Opportunity Commission should be constituted to look into the grievances of the deprived
groups. A carefully conceived nomination procedure should be worked out to increase
inclusiveness in governance. The Committee has recommended elimination of the anomalies
with respect to reserved constituencies under the delimitation scheme. The idea of providing
certain incentives to a diversity index should be explored. Incentives can be related to this index
so as to ensure equal opportunities to all socio religious communities in the fields of education,
governance, private employment and housing. State functionaries should be sensitive to the need
to have diversity and the problems associated with social exclusion. A process of evaluating the
content of the school textbooks needs to be initiated and institutionalized. The UGC should
evolve a system where part of the allocation to colleges and universities is linked to the diversity
in the student population. To facilitate admissions to the most backward amongst all the socio
religious communities in the regular universities and autonomous colleges, alternate admission
criteria need to be evolved. Providing hostel facilities at reasonable costs for students from
minorities must be taken up on a priority basis. Teacher training should be compulsory ensuring
in its curriculum the components which introduce the importance of diversity and plurality. The
teachers should be sensitized towards the needs and aspirations of Muslims and other
marginalized communities. The states should run Urdu medium schools. Work out mechanisms
whereby Madarsas can be linked with a higher secondary school board so that students wanting
to shift to a regular mainstream education can do so after having passed from a Madarsa.
Recognition of the Madarsa degrees for eligibility in competitive examinations is desirable. The
Committee recommended promoting and enhancing access to Muslims in Priority Sector Bank
Advances. The real need is of policy initiatives that improve the participation and share of the
Minorities, particularly Muslims in the business of regular commercial banks. The community
should be represented on interview panels and Boards. The underprivileged should be helped to
utilize new opportunities in its high growth phase through skill development and education.
Provide financial and other support to initiatives built around occupations where Muslims are
concentrated and have growth potential.