HRD moves to include Muslims in OBC quota

Amid the din over the Sachar committee report and the Parliamentary Standing Committee’s report advocating affirmative action for “socially and economically backward minorities”...

Amid the din over the Sachar committee report and the Parliamentary Standing Committee’s report advocating affirmative action for “socially and economically backward minorities”, the Human Resource Development ministry, headed by Arjun Singh, has moved in to make a specific provision for inclusion of Muslims in the OBC quota Bill.

Top sources told The Indian Express that the ministry’s step has been emboldened after the parliamentary panel gave its “considered opinion” that “interests of the socially and educationally backwards amongst the minorities may be taken care of through suitable mechanism to ensure proper access.” However, the panel’s six BJP members have opposed this and have signed a dissent note.

“The revised bill is likely to state that the backwards amongst minorities will be given the benefits of quotas, within the 27 per cent quotas for OBCs,” the source told The Indian Express.

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The Sachar report has shown how Muslims constitute less than 2 per cent of the total student population in IIMs and IITs, and the enrolment figures in schools are even lower than that of SCs and STs.

The HRD ministry is expected to finalise the revised bill — keeping in view of the concerns raised by the Standing committee — and send it for Cabinet approval next week, sources said. Officials expect the Bill to be passed and become a law in this session.

The Standing committee’s position on the “creamy layer” that “at the first instance, reservation should be given to the non-creamy layer and then, if OBC seats remain vacant, they may be filled up from the creamy layer in order of merit,” has not helped the HRD ministry to take a decision on the tricky issue.

The matter has become controversial as there has not been a unanimity within the UPA government on inclusion of creamy layer for OBC quotas in higher educational institutions. “Ultimately, the decision has to be taken by the PMO and the Union Cabinet on this issue,” the source said. The ministry, however, has also redrafted the Bill to include a provision for a “regulator” as the Standing committee has also suggested that “a suitable mechanism to monitor the implementation of reservations needs to be considered”.

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Shastri Bhawan officials, however, are cold to the idea of introducing sub-quota for women, as suggested by the Standing committee. The committee has called upon the government to “ensure that women in this scheme of things do not get sidelined as usually happens”.

The ministry is also contemplating introducing a provision for amending the Bill, whereby the schedule of exempted institutions from OBC quotas — like premier research institutions — can be amended by the government only after an approval from the Parliament. Although the panel has expressed displeasure at the arbitrary manner in which the institutions have been exempted, it has not asked for their inclusion.