Summarised Sachar Report on Status of Indian Muslims
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.
