10 Years of Mandal Quota: Did it Help Muslims?
Dr. Shakeel-uz Zaman Ansari, Member of the National Commission for Backward Classes
By Mumtaz Alam, Muslim Mirror,
New Delhi, Feb. 20: The year 2013 marks the 20thyear of commencement of the 27% national quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) following the recommendation of Mandal Commission. The OBC category both at state and central level includes different religious communities including Muslims. Twenty years are enough time to see benefits of a scheme or program. Has the OBC quota which came into force in 1993 benefited the Muslim OBCs who are covered by the quota? In an exclusive interview to Muslim Mirror, Dr. Shakeel-uz Zaman Ansari, Member of the National Commission for Backward Classes, a constitutional body, says the quota has not helped Muslim OBCs much thanks to rampant discrimination. Had it helped Muslim OBCs the share of the Muslim community in government jobs would not have been between 1-3 percent as the Sachar Committee report pointed out.
“Had Muslims benefited from the OBC quota fully, the condition of Muslim community would not have been such as it is today. Sachar Committee said there is just one percent Muslims in higher services, and 2-3 percent in other services. Muslims are at least 18% of the total population, of which Muslim OBCs are 14%. Had this 14% of the Muslim community or even half of it got benefits of the quota the situation would have been very different,” says Dr. Ansari, who is also former minister of Bihar.
For this he holds both bureaucratic discrimination and community leadership responsible.
“Recruitment agencies have long list of Muslim OBC candidates, but they are not selected. It means we are being discriminated. Due to awareness, in last 10 years, a good number of OBC Muslims have come to education, but there is discrimination in admission at education institutions,” says Dr. Ansari but admits that the OBC Muslim community is also not aware of the schemes and programs as much as they should have been. And he holds Muslim leadership responsible for it.
Part 1
“There are government schemes for OBCs that start from block and district level, but it is a tragedy of the Muslim community that their leaders reside in national capital or state capitals like Lucknow and Patna, not at lower level. They issue statements in newspapers, but there is no one to ensure that schemes from BDO office reach Muslims also. Consequently, either the scheme lapses or some other community get benefit of it. There is a finance corporation for OBCs also. There is another one for minorities also, which has much load. The finance corporation for OBCs is also for Muslim OBCs, but due to unawareness Muslim OBCs do not avail the benefit. Several times, we have found that there are no applications from Muslim OBCs at the corporation,” Dr. Ansari says.
Part 1
“There are government schemes for OBCs that start from block and district level, but it is a tragedy of the Muslim community that their leaders reside in national capital or state capitals like Lucknow and Patna, not at lower level. They issue statements in newspapers, but there is no one to ensure that schemes from BDO office reach Muslims also. Consequently, either the scheme lapses or some other community get benefit of it. There is a finance corporation for OBCs also. There is another one for minorities also, which has much load. The finance corporation for OBCs is also for Muslim OBCs, but due to unawareness Muslim OBCs do not avail the benefit. Several times, we have found that there are no applications from Muslim OBCs at the corporation,” Dr. Ansari says.
Part 2
On the 4.5% minority quota carved out of the 27% OBC quota (which is now pending before the Supreme Court), Dr. Ansari says the 4.5% quota for all minority OBCs is injustice to Muslim OBCs. The 27% OBC quota is on the basis of 52% population of the OBCs in the country. Half of the OBC population has been covered under the quota. So if Muslim OBCs are 14% of the total population of the country then at least 7% should be marked out for Muslim OBCs alone. While this 4.5% quota has included all five constitutionally recognized minorities that include Sikh, Christian, Jain, Parsi besides Muslims.
No comments:
Post a Comment