Sachar report: Govt’s follow-up strategy focuses on education

On Friday, the Government said it was working out a comprehensive strategy to address backwardness among Muslims as a follow-up to the Sachar Committee recommendations.

On Friday, the Government said it was working out a comprehensive strategy to address backwardness among Muslims as a follow-up to the Sachar Committee recommendations.

On the education front, a merit-cum-means scholarship scheme for 20,000 students from the minority communities for pursuing technical and professional courses has already been approved. Two other—a pre-matric and a post-matric scholarship—schemes will be introduced shortly, Union Minority Affairs Minister A R Antulay said.

Antulay added that a multi-pronged strategy would be adopted to address the problem of educational backwardness among Muslims.

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A revised coaching and remedial tuition scheme has been approved to improve employability and academic performance of students belonging to the minority communities, the Government said.

The outreach of upper primary schools will be expanded, particularly for Muslim girls, and where necessary, with “girls only” schools. The minister said more Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas will be opened in areas with substantial Muslim population. He added that the madrasa modernisation programme will be revised.

Soon after the Sachar panel report was presented in November last year, HRD Minister Arjun Singh had set up a committee headed by Minister of State for Education MAA Fatmi to go into the educational aspects of the report. The Fatmi panel had also come out with a set of recommendations on how to improve the educational status of Muslims.

The statement by the minister said a targeted intervention had been proposed for improvement of basic amenities and employment opportunities in 90 identified minority concentration districts which are backward in terms of various development parameters.

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A suitable agency would soon assist in the development of Wakf properties so that the augmented income could be utilised for the purpose intended.

To address the anomalies in the electoral representation of the Muslims—as pointed out by the Sachar Committee—a high level committee has been consulted to review the Delimitation Act.

In an attempt to promote diversity and social inclusion in educational institutions, work places and living spaces, an expert group has been constituted to propose an appropriate “diversity index”. Such an index can be the basis for providing incentives for better representation in these areas.