AFZAL AHMAD KHAN presents a gist of Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee Report and forcefully demands its complete acceptance and sincere implementation of its recommendations.
Since our independence, while the communal parties raised the baseless but well organised propaganda of appeasement of Muslims by the ruling parties to garner the Hindu votes in their favour, the self-proclaimed secular party that ruled the country for almost the entire period projected the communal parties as the monsters for the Muslims, hell bent upon swallowing them at the first available opportunity. Apparently, these political parties appear to have diametrically opposite approaches to the minority issues, but by their actions, they have been serving the interest of each other.
After the Partition, the Muslims who loved to remain in India, proved to be a very depressed, secluded and shattered lot and were rather forced to feel guilty of a sin (partition of the country), which they never committed. It is a naked fact that after Partition, the Muslims who opted for India in spite of the extreme all-round destruction, insult and humiliation they faced, did not get the helping hand they needed for their rebuilding. The situation was ideally suited for revocation of the Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution, which could have not only worked as a morale booster for them but could have restored their shattered confidence also. But this was not done.
Instead, the facility of reservation for the Muslim Schedule Castes (SCs) along with the Hindu co-professionals, given by the British through the Government of India Act 1935 and adopted even by our Constituent Assembly was withdrawn in 1950 itself, i.e. just after we became a republic.
Adhering strictly to the principle of ‘offence is the best defence’, a widespread propaganda was launched by the biased media along with the communal politicians, to make the world believe that only Muslims were responsible for every wrong happening in our country. Pursuing it further, orders were deliberately issued and the situations were purposely created, so that the Muslims do not only alienate themselves from the mainstream of the country but also become so much humiliated, demoralised and defensive that they do not raise their voices against the bullets of injustices, which have been continuously fired over them since our independence.
Taking full advantage of the sense of insecurity among the Muslims, these self-proclaimed secular political parties fished in the troubled waters by spreading the message that the very survival of the Muslims in India is in danger and their existence in the country is possible only if they remained in power not only in the states but also at the centre and therefore, for their own safety, the Muslims should vote only in their favour. Similarly, communal parties propagated that the Hindus along with their religion will only survive in this country if they remained in power and therefore, for their own protection, they should vote only in their favour. Thus, both the parties, communalists and self-proclaimed secularists gained enormously from their respective propaganda and successfully garnered the votes in their favour but the only loser in this whole drama was the citizens of this country, especially the Muslims, who were haplessly looking to all these games being played by the political parties from the fringe.
These policies of the Governments have shown their true colour. The Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslims have gone down so drastically that a majority of them are at the level of SCs or even below them. The facts have been well documented by Sachar Committee. Some of the findings and recommendations by the committee are as follows:
A. Important Findings of Sachar Committee
1. The gross under-representation of Muslims in jobs in the government sector is a sad comment on the partisan nature of governance in India (P. 163).
2. Share of Muslims in employment in various departments is abysmally low at all levels. In no state does the representation of Muslims in the government departments match their population share (P. 171).
3. The conditions of Muslims in general are also lower than the Hindu OBCs who have the benefit of reservations. (P.. 213).
4. Though there are many Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and Central Plan Schemes (CPS) available for the welfare of SCs, STs and OBCs, such schemes for the welfare of minorities are rare. And the available schemes are inadequately funded. (P. 251).
5. The presence and participation of Muslims in the Judiciary has been a major point of concern (P. 173).
6. Representation of Muslims is very low in the Universities and in Banks (The presence of Muslims (in percentages) in various fields is as follows – P. 169).
7.
i. Employed in some services
IAS 3%
IFS 1.8%
IPS 4%
Indian Railways 4.5%
[almost all (98.7%) of them are positioned at Lower levels]
Security agencies 4%
Education Department 6.5%
Home Department 7.5%
Constables 6%
Health Department 4.4%
ii. Education
In the premier colleges of the country,
Under-Graduate 4% only one out of the 25 students
Post-Graduate 2% only one out of the 50 students.
IIMs 1.3%
IITs 3.3%
8. More than1,000 Muslim concentration villages in West Bengal and Bihar, and 1943 such villages in UP do not have any educational institution. The situation is worse in smaller villages with a Muslim concentration. There is a clear and significant inverse association between the proportion of the Muslim population and the availability of educational infrastructure in small villages. (P. 143)
9. Poverty and Consumption Levels: For the year 2004-05, the all India average Mean per Capita Expenditure (at current prices) for urban areas was Rs.1,105. In comparative terms the figures were, upper caste Hindus (Rs.1,469), Other Minorities (Rs.1,485), OBC Hindus (Rs.955), Muslims (Rs. 804) and SCs/STs (Rs. 793). Thus, the MPCE of Muslims and SCs/STs are almost the same and is well below the National level. (P. 153).
10. Access to Credit i. During the six years period 2000-01 to 2005-06, of the total amount of Rs. 26,593 crores disbursed by SIDBI, Muslims received a paltry Rs.124 crores (less than 0.5 %). (P. 134).
ii. National Bank of Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) has done no better. During the two years 2004-05, 2005-06, Muslims received only 3.2% of the total production credit and 3.9% of investment credit. (P. 135).
iii. RBI’s efforts to extend banking and credit facilities under the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme have mainly benefited other minorities, marginalising Muslims. (P. 128).
iv. Some banks have identified a number of Muslim concentration areas as ‘negative geographical zones’ where bank credit and other facilities are not easily provided. (Pg.136).
11. Wakf Boards: i. Encroachment by the State, who is the custodian of the Wakf interests, is common. (P. 221).
ii Many states have huge amounts that are outstanding but not paid to the Wakf Boards.(P. 226).
iii. The Delhi Wakf Board has effectively been deprived of the use of its valuable properties, currently estimated at Rs.6,000 crores. (P. 228).
B. Sachar’s Important Recommendations
1. Set up Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) to look into grievances about denial of equal opportunity or bias or discrimination by the deprived groups. An example of such a policy tool is the United Kingdom Race Relations Act, 1976. (P. 240).
2. Enhance Muslim Participation in Governance. Because of the logic of one-man-one-vote principle, minorities in India often lack effective political importance. A carefully conceived ‘nomination’ procedure should be worked out to increase the effective participation of minorities in local governance. (P. 239).
3. Because of the Presidential Order (1950), that restricts the SC status only to Hindu groups having “unclean occupations” (Sikhs and neo-Buddhists have since been included under SCs),Committee has argued it would be most appropriate for them to be included under the SC category, or at least club them with the Most Backward Castes (MBCs) category. (P. 198).
4. Give Education Top Priority. Free and compulsory education up to the age of 14 is the responsibility of the State. And the fulfilment of this obligation is critical for the improvements in the educational conditions of Muslims, in fact, of all socio-economically deprived children. (P. 243).
5. Remove bias from school textbooks: A process of evaluating the content of the school textbooks needs to be initiated to purge them of explicit and implicit content that may impart inappropriate social values, especially religious intolerance. (P. 244).
6. Set up High Quality Government Schools in all areas of Muslim concentration. (P. 244).
7. Availability of primary education in one’s mother tongue is constitutionally provided for. Provide primary education in Urdu in areas where Urdu speaking population is concentrated. (P. 244).
8. Technical Education and Training for Non-matriculates: The pre-entry qualification for admission to ITIs should be reduced to Class VIII. Skill development initiatives of ITIs and polytechnics should be focused on areas where the minority population is concentrated. The eligibility for such programmes should also be extended to the Madrasa educated children as they are ineligible to get trained under many current formal technical education streams. (P. 245).
9. Providing hostel facilities at reasonable costs for students from minorities must be taken up on a priority basis. While this is required for all minority students, such facilities for girls in cities of all sizes are particularly desirable. (P. 246).
10. Support Urdu language: Often Urdu schools have teachers who have no knowledge of Urdu. This problem is partly compounded by the fact that posts of Urdu teachers are reserved for the SCs/STs and such candidates are not available. This anomaly needs to be corrected urgently. High quality Urdu medium schools can be opened in those parts of the country wherever there is demand for them. Ensure that good quality textbooks are available in the Urdu language and the products of these schools are employable. Urdu should be introduced as an optional subject in all government and government-aided schools in states having a substantial Urdu speaking population. (P. 247).
11. Link Madrasas to Mainstream Education: i. Provision of “equivalence” to Madrasa certificates/degrees for subsequent admissions into institutions of higher learning. Work out mechanisms whereby Madrasas 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 Madrasa. (P. 248).
ii. Recognition of the degrees from Madrasas for eligibility in competitive examinations such as the Civil Services, Banks, Defence Services and other such examinations within the existing framework of these competitive examinations. (P. 248)
12. Ensure More Access to Credit and Government Schemes: i. Information regarding the religious background of customers and clients should be maintained by the banks and made available to the RBI. RBI in turn can provide this information for others under the Right to Information Act. (P. 249).
ii. Promote and enhance access to Muslims in Priority Sector Advances. Any shortfall in achievement of targeted amount in minority specific programmes should be parked with NMDFC, NABARD and SIDBI and specific programmes should be funded with this amount. (P. 249).
iii. It is desirable to have experts drawn from the community on relevant interview panels and boards. This practice is already in vogue in the case of SCs/STs. (P. 250).
iv. The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) should set aside a fund for training for minorities under its Entrepreneurial Development Programme. (P. 250).
v. National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) should lay down a policy to enhance the participation of minorities in its micro-credit schemes. (P. 250).
vi. All 58 districts with more than 25% Muslim population should be brought under the Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme for minority’s welfare. (P. 250)
vii. There should be transparency in information about minorities in all activities. It should be made mandatory to publish/furnish information in a prescribed format once in three months and also to post the same on the website of the departments and state governments. (P. 250).
viii. The review of Government programmes suggests that Muslims have not benefited much from them. Detailed data should be collected regularly on the participation of different SRCs in government programmes, both at the state and the Central level. (P. 251).
13. Improve Employment Opportunities: i. Locate ITIs, polytechnics and other institutions that provide skill training for non-matriculates in areas/clusters which have concentrations of Muslim population. (P. 252).
ii. It is imperative to increase the employment share of Muslims particularly in departments where there is a great deal of public dealing: the teachers, health workers, police personnel, bank employees etc. (P. 252).
iii. Encourage employers to endorse their organisations as ‘Equal Opportunity Institutions’ so that applicants from all socio-religious communities may apply. A time bound effort in this direction is desirable. (P. 252).
iv In the Muslim concentrated areas, ensure at least one Muslim inspector/sub-inspector in Thanas, Muslim health personnel in health units, a few Muslim teachers in schools, and so on. (P. 253).
14. Wakf Boards: There are more than 4.9 lakh registered Wakfs spread over the country, the market value of all the Wakf properties at current prices is around Rs.1.2 lakh crores but the current annual income from these properties is only about Rs. 163 crores, which amounts to a meagre 2.7 per cent rate of return. If these properties are put to efficient and marketable use, they can generate at least a minimum 10% annual return which means around Rs.12,000 crores. Data available with Committee shows that in cases where Wakf property is efficiently utilised, the return has averaged 20% per annum. (P. 219).
It is expected that the recommendations will receive the attention of the Central and the state governments and will be implemented with all the earnestness and the thoroughness that they deserve. The issues relating to disparities across socio-religious communities are of utmost importance to our nation today. (P. 254).
The Sachar Committee report depicts a true picture of the Social, Economic and Educational Status of Indian Muslims. The Report not only thoroughly exposes the Sangh Parivar’s baseless propaganda of “Muslim appeasement but its findings are a shocking testimony to six decades of deliberate neglect and bias by the Governments and their agencies that has left the country’s Muslims far behind in the areas of education, employment, access to credit, access to social and physical infrastructure and political representation.”
The Report has made numerous recommendations for urgent governmental action to redress the problem of Muslim backwardness which is not only the problem of a community but is a national problem because no country can ever hope to progress if it leaves behind more than 150 million of its population in the ruins of illiteracy, poverty and hunger. It is also very important to mention here that no undue favour or special status for Muslims is required for this purpose. In fact all these problems have been created due to encroachments in our original constitution by the Governments for their political gains. The sheer application of our constitution, originally adopted by our Constituent Assembly on January 26, 1950, in its true letter and spirit, with all fairness, sincerity and honesty will solve the problem.
The minorities are probably rightly looking to governments and their governance with suspicious eyes. Therefore, the law of the land should uniformly be applied to every citizen without any discrimination or bias and Justice should not only be done but it should appear to have been done. The following actions will not only check further damage to the conditions of Muslims of the country but will also rebuild their confidence in our governments and their governance apart from enhancing the credibility of our democratic system.
To fulfil the demands of justice:
1) Implement all the recommendations of Sachar Committee without any further delay.
2) Remove discriminations against minorities. The Muslims have been illegally placed in the category of Upper Caste Hindus due to the Presidential Order of 1950 (PO) and can try only against 76% seats/vacancies. Either withdraw these orders or allow them to compete as a single caste against 100% vacancies/seats. The said PO is criminal violation of our secular constitution, especially Article 14, 15 and 16 which state as follows:
I. Article 14: Equality before law: The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.
II. Article 15: Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
Clause (1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.
III. Article 16 Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.
Clause (1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.
Clause (2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State.
3) The overall pathetic condition of Muslims of the country is a fit case for application of Article 15 and 16 of our Constitution over the entire community. They state as—
I. Article 15 Clause (4). Nothing in this article or in clause (2) or article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
II .Article 16 Clause (4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.
4) All the minorities should be brought under the umbrella of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. This will not only create confidence in them but will also be very effective in checking the communal riots which mostly start with provocations and bias or discriminations.
5) The number of vacancies which should have gone to Muslims (in the ratio of population of Muslim SCs) should be worked out at least from 1990 (when Buddhist were also included in the list of SCs along with Hindus and Sikhs) and the backlog of filling the vacancies should be cleared in a phased manner, by framing and strictly adhering to a time bound programme of five years. This method for clearing the backlog of the present SCs is in practice in all the Government departments.