Recommendations
1. The Context
This report has probed the question of whether
different socio-religious categories (SRCs) in India have had an
equal chance to reap the benefits of development, with a focus
on Muslims in India. It was stated at the outset that minorities
have to grapple with issues relating to identity, security and
equity. It was also recognized that these three sets of issues
are inter-related. But since the mandate of this Committee is
primarily on equity, the Report essentially deals with relative
deprivation of Muslims vis-à-vis other SRCs in various
dimensions of development. It may also be useful to recall the
distinction made in the introductory chapter between issues that
are common to all poor people and those that are specific to
minorities, especially Muslims.
Our analysis shows that while there is
considerable variation in the conditions of Muslims across
states, (and among the Muslims, those who identified themselves
as OBCs and others), the Community exhibits deficits and
deprivation in practically all dimensions of development. In
fact, by and large, Muslims rank somewhat above SCs/STs but
below Hindu-OBCs, Other Minorities and Hindu-General (mostly
upper castes) in almost all indicators considered. Among the
states that have large Muslim populations, the situation is
particularly grave in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh and Assam. Interestingly, despite such deficits, the
Community has lower infant mortality rates and sex-ratios. In
addition to the ‘development deficit’, the perception among
Muslims that they are discriminated against and excluded is
widespread, which exacerbates the problem.
The Committee strongly suggests that the
policies to deal with the relative deprivation of the Muslims in
the country should sharply focus on inclusive development and
‘mainstreaming’ of the Community while respecting diversity.
There is an urgent need to recognize diversity in residential,
work and educational spaces, apart from enhancing inclusion of
the really deprived SRCs in ‘spaces’ created by public
programmes and policy interventions. The need for equity and
inclusion in a pluralistic society can never be overemphasized.
But the 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. This is only possible when the importance of
Muslims as an intrinsic part of the diverse Indian social mosaic
is squarely recognized.
Given this context, the policy perspectives and
recommendations discussed below fall into two broad categories:
Ø General policy initiatives/approaches
that cut across different aspects of socio-economic and
educational development analysed in the Report; and
Ø Specific policy measures that deal with
particular issues and/or dimensions (e.g., education, credit,
etc.) covered in the Report.
2. General Policy Initiatives and Approaches
We discuss here a set of overarching initiatives
that are of importance on their own and would also enhance the
efficacy of more specific instruments discussed later.
2.1 Need for Transparency, Monitoring and Data
Availability
Availability of reliable data on a continuing
basis across SRCs on socio-economic conditions, participation in
government programmes and the like is critical for designing
appropriate policies, ensuring transparency and effectively
monitoring various initiatives and programmes. In other words,
availability of detailed data is a prerequisite for good
governance. Availability of such data would also make policy
instruments like the Right to Information Act more efficacious.
The Committee had faced the acute problem of non-availability of
reliable data and, therefore, had to launch an independent
effort to collect, collate and consolidate available data. The
data obtained through these mechanisms with considerable
difficulty was still not exhaustive enough to analyse several
issues to our satisfaction. There is an immediate need,
therefore, to make arrangements to collect data for different
SRCs on a regular basis and make it available to researchers and
the public.
We recommend a creation of a National Data Bank
(NDB) where all relevant data for various SRCs are maintained.
All the data should be eventually computerized and made
available on the Internet. The Census, the National Accounts
Statistics (NAS) and NSSO are the most important sources of
large-scale good quality data but they are not able to readily
provide data on crucial variables to assess the social, economic
and educational conditions according to SRCs. There is an urgent
need, therefore, to assess afresh the data needs for evaluating
conditions of citizens by SRC status on a regular basis so as to
understand and assess the flow of development benefits. The NDB
should also be the repository of data on different
beneficiary-oriented government programmes undertaken at the
national and the state levels along with the details of
beneficiaries drawn from different SRCs. Details of employment,
credit flows, programme participation, etc. should also be
shared by various national and state agencies and undertakings
with the NDB. For this purpose, the NDB should have the
resources and authority to access data from other agencies
identified above as well as to obtain required information from
government departments both at the Centre and the state levels.
In fact, it should be obligatory on the part of the relevant
departments of the Central and state governments to supply the
information to the NDB. While the Central Statistical Commission
which has been set up recently could provide the broad
framework, the NDB should function as an autonomous body.
Once such data are available there is a need to
institutionalize the mechanisms for assessment and monitoring in
order to suggest policy options on a timely basis. The Committee
recommends the setting up of an autonomous Assessment and
Monitoring Authority (AMA) to evaluate the extent of development
benefits which accrue to different SRCs through various
programmes. Academics, professionals, civil society
organizations along with state authorities as the official
members can be part of this Authority and perform a watch-dog
function which closely monitors the participation of various
SRCs in both state and Central level programme implementation.
As the government and public records are being digitized it
would be possible for the AMA to monitor ‘diversity’ in
participation on a regular basis. The digitization will also
facilitate monitoring at all levels of governance particularly
the panchayats and nagar palikas, districts and of course the
states and the Centre. While monitoring should be done on a
concurrent basis, an elaborate monitoring exercise should be
undertaken every five years. The results of this exercise can be
profitably utilized for reformulation of policies, if required.
2.2 Enhancing the Legal Basis for Providing
Equal Opportunities
The widespread perception of discrimination
among the Muslim community needs to be addressed. There are
hardly any empirical studies that establish discrimination.
(A recent study shows that despite the presence
of eligible persons in the villages in Gujarat that she studied,
there were no Muslim beneficiaries in the Self Help Groups (SHG)
programme and not a single Below Poverty Line (BPL) card was
issued to them. See Nikita Sud (2004), ‘There are no non-Gujaratis
in this village’/ ‘We can recognize a Waghri from his chaal’:
Constructing and Contesting a Gujarati-Hindu Identity. Paper
prepared for the workshop on ‘Engagements with Tradition in the
Gujarati World’, School of Oriental and African Studies, London.)
Research in this area needs to be encouraged but
is particularly difficult at the moment due to non-availability
of data. Hopefully, better availability of data would result in
more studies in this area. While equity in the implementation of
programmes and better participation of the Community in the
development process would gradually eliminate this perception of
discrimination, there is a need to strengthen the legal
provisions to eliminate such cases.
The Indian Constitution in ‘Part-III -
Fundamental Rights’ has exhaustively provided not only for
equality of all citizens irrespective of their religion but has
also provided special provisions for protecting the rights of
minorities in respect of their religion, language and culture.
Thus, any violation of the rights of the minority by the State
could be challenged in a court of law. There are also
institutions like National Human Rights Commission (NHRC),
National Commission for Minorities (NCM) to look into complaints
made by the minorities with respect to the State action. But,
these mechanisms can only have a limited role and cannot look
into many complaints arising on a day-to-day basis against
non-State agencies. The minorities, many a time, may feel that
there is discrimination against them in the matter of
employment, housing, for obtaining loans from the public or
private sector banks, or opportunities for good schooling. It is
self-evident that if minorities have these perceptions, law must
provide an effective mechanism which should examine their
complaints and be able to give effective relief. It is
imperative that if the minorities have certain perceptions of
being aggrieved, all efforts should be made by the State to find
a mechanism by which these complaints could be attended to
expeditiously. This mechanism should operate in a manner which
gives full satisfaction to the minorities that any denial of
equal opportunities or bias or discrimination in dealing with
them, either by public functionary or any private individual,
will immediately be attended to and redress given. Such a
mechanism should be accessible to all individuals and
institutions desirous to complain that they have received less
favourable treatment from any employer or any person on the
basis of his/her SRC background and gender.
It is wrong to assume that there is an
inevitable conflict between the interests of majority and
minority communities in the country. This is flawed reasoning
and assumption. Deprivation, poverty and discrimination may
exist among all SRCs although in different proportions. But the
fact of belonging to a minority community has, it cannot be
denied, an in-built sensitivity to discrimination. This
sensitivity is natural and may exist among religious minorities
in any country. Recognizing this reality is not pandering to the
minorities nor sniping at the majority. This recognition is only
an acceptance of reality. It is a well-accepted maxim in law
that not only must justice be done but it must appear to be
done. It is in that context that the Committee recommends that
an Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) should be constituted by
the government to look into the grievances of the deprived
groups. An example of such a policy tool is the UK Race
Relations Act, 1976. While providing a redressal mechanism for
different types of discrimination, this will give a further
reassurance to the minorities that any unfair action against
them will invite the vigilance of the law.
2.3 Enhancing Participation in Governance
One reason for less than adequate participation
in the development process may be due to inadequate
participation in the governance structures. The Indian democracy
provides opportunities for communities and groups of various
social, economic and political orientations to democratically
get elected and participate in different levels of ‘governance’
beginning from the grass roots to the state and national level
political structures. Thus, democratic participation is possible
for all communities within the country at a number of levels -
national, the states/union territories and at the grass roots.
The local self-governments - panchayats and zilla parishads in
rural areas, and municipalities and corporations in urban areas
- are crucial instruments in this context. Besides these
institutions of parliamentary democracy, there are a number of
para-governmental institutions which run on the principles of
electoral democracy and public representation. For example, a
cooperative society established for the purpose of providing
finance for development in a locality can elect its own
representatives from among its residents. In a society
characterized by considerable socio-cultural complexity, such as
the one we have in India, democratic processes founded on
universal adult franchise often fail to provide opportunities to
ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities for getting elected
and becoming part of the governance structure because of their
low population shares. Over the last sixty years minorities have
scarcely occupied adequate public spaces. The participation of
Muslims in nearly all political spaces is low, which can have an
adverse impact on the Indian society and polity in the long run.
The marginalized either have inadequate numbers that comes in
the way of making their presence felt in the normal course of
governance or they are not politically empowered. Given the
power of numbers in a democratic polity based on universal
franchise, minorities in India lack effective agency and
political importance. They do not have the necessary influence
or the opportunity to either change or even influence events
which enables their meaningful and active participation in
development process. Therefore, there is a strong case to put
mechanisms in place that enable them to engage in democratic
processes at various levels of polity and governance. Mere
material change will not bring about the true empowerment of the
minorities; they need to acquire and be given the required
collective agency.
Formulating and Implementing New Nomination
Procedures
For increased participation it is imperative
that there is a corresponding representation in governance
structures. A carefully conceived ‘nomination’ procedure can be
worked out to increase the participation of minorities at the
grass roots. Mechanisms should be put in place so that a larger
number of minorities are indeed nominated so as to increase
their participation in public bodies. The Committee recommends
that on the lines of initiatives taken by the Andhra Pradesh
government, appropriate state level laws can be enacted to
ensure minority representation in local bodies. Each state
implementing this provision may need to recognize both
linguistic and religious minorities. This effort on the part of
the government to enhance diversity in the local governance
structures leading to the visible participation of minority
communities would go a long way in building an atmosphere of
trust and faith and will yield extraordinary results enabling
India to be a vibrant democracy.
Establishing a More Rational Procedure for
Delimitation of Constituencies
The Committee also recommends the elimination of
the anomalies with respect to reserved constituencies under the
delimitation schemes discussed in Chapter 2. A more rational
delimitation procedure that does not reserve constituencies with
high minority population shares for SCs will improve the
opportunity for the minorities, especially the Muslims, to
contest and get elected to the Indian Parliament and the State
Assemblies. Apart from these two initiatives it is important to
evolve other methods to enhance political participation of the
Community.
2.4 Shared Spaces: Need to Enhance Diversity
There is an urgent need to enhance diversity in
living, educational and work spaces. A variety of initiatives
may be required for this purpose, some of which are discussed
later in this chapter. With increasing ghettoization and limited
participation of certain SRCs in regular employment and
educational institutions, the spaces available for interaction
among SRCs have shrunk. Efforts are required to recreate and
enhance such spaces. Enhancement of diversity in different
spaces should be seen as a larger policy objective. And in this
context, while SRCs can be the core element for defining
diversity, in specific contexts (say employment and education),
gender should also be included. The challenge is to develop an
index of diversity that is transparent and easy to implement.
Linking Incentives to Diversity
The idea of providing certain incentives to a
‘diversity index’ should be explored. Admittedly, this is a
complex proposition but if a transparent and acceptable method
to measure diversity can be developed, a wide variety of
incentives can be linked to this index so as to ensure equal
opportunity to all SRCs in the areas of education, government &
private employment and housing. The diversity principle which
entails equity is to be applied not only between the majority
and minorities but also between minorities so that the truly
disadvantaged can and should benefit. Given an acceptable
diversity index, policies can provide for:
Ø Incentives in the form of larger grants to
those educational institutions that have higher diversity and
are able to sustain it. These incentives can apply to both
colleges and universities, both in the public and the private
sector.
Ø Incentives to private sector to encourage
diversity in the work force. While such initiatives should be
part of the corporate social responsibility, some affirmative
action may help initiate this process.
Ø Incentives to builders for housing complexes
that have more ‘diverse’ resident populations to promote
‘composite living spaces’ of SRCs.
Facilitate Creation of Common Public Spaces
Most poor children do not have access to parks,
libraries and even study spaces within their own houses. Such
spaces can enhance interaction among SRCs and also provide the
much needed fillip to educational initiatives; such spaces can
be used by the community or civil society to organize remedial
classes, reading rooms and other constructive initiatives. The
State should encourage such initiatives in mixed localities and
across neighbourhoods so that children belonging to different
SRCs can interact and at the same time pursue studies. These
spaces can also be used for interaction and constructive
activities among adults of different SRCs. Such initiatives are
essentially a domain of civil society but mechanisms to
encourage such activities through provision of unused/vacant
municipal premises/land etc. can be quite useful.
(One such experiment with community
participation is being successfully run in parts of Gujarat by
the Society for Promotion of Rational Thinking (SPRAT).)
Part of the funds earmarked for the Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) can be used for
this purpose.
Sensitization-Related Initiatives
In order to respect and sustain diversity in the development and
implementation of innovative programmes or in the provision of
services, the relevant functionaries should be sensitive to the
need to have diversity and the problems associated with social
exclusion. It is important to sensitize state and other
functionaries on these issues. A large-scale programme for
sensitization of various staff members, especially those who
come in public contact on a regular basis is desirable, with a
focus on health personnel, teachers, police and other security
personnel.
3. Specific Policy Initiatives
While the initiatives discussed in Section 2
would provide a broad thrust to diversity, equity and
inclusiveness, specific policy interventions in the areas of
education, employment, credit etc. will also be required to
complement them. Two points need to be emphasized at the outset.
One, the policy measures suggested below and outlined above will
have a better impact if they are adopted together and not in a
piecemeal manner. Two, there is a need to focus more sharply on
issues relating to women in each of the initiatives discussed in
this section.
3.1 Criticality of Education
Access to education is critical for benefiting
from emerging opportunities that are accompanied by economic
growth. The report brings out clearly the educational
deprivation experienced by the Muslim community. From lower
levels of enrolment to a sharp decline in participation in
higher levels of education, the situation of Indian Muslims is
indeed very depressing as compared to most other SRCs; in fact
their situation seems to have worsened in relative terms. And
the problem is more acute for girls/women. Reasons for this are
varied - ranging from poverty to perceived discrimination
resulting in alienating school environment. While the overall
situation remains bad, the enrolment rates of Muslims have
picked up in recent years and the policies should help sustain
the momentum that can get created through this change. Our
analysis also shows that the major problems lie in school
education; the likelihood of Muslim children completing school
education is significantly lower than other SRCs, except SCs/STs,
once factors like household expenditure, place of residence,
gender etc. are controlled for. Once the "hurdle" of school
education is crossed, the differences across most SRCs in the
likelihood of completing graduate studies narrow down and are at
times not very significant. Therefore, a sharper focus on school
education is desirable.
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. In addition, a sharper
focus on a few areas listed below is desirable.
Adequate Reflection of Social Diversity in the
Content of School Textbooks
The school textbook is one of the most enduring
influences in the formative years of childhood. Along with the
family, the school teaches the child not only the three Rs but
values and attitudes that shape the child’s character and create
a sense of values. Given the influence of the textbook, the
Committee feels that it can work as an important instrument of
imparting social values. The textbook should not only reflect
reality but also help in creating appropriate values. Since the
children tend to read their textbooks several times, their
familiarity with the text is significant and acts to reinforce
the values being suggested in the text. If the texts do not
reflect diversity or are derogatory with respect to specific
communities, they can alienate children of those communities
from wider society. Simple things in the textbooks can sow the
seeds for religious intolerance, create caste bias and/or reduce
sensitivity to gender differences, while the intent and purpose
of texts should be to do just the opposite. The Committee
recommends that 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. (A very systematic
effort of this kind has been done by Samaan, an NGO based in
Calcutta, for the State board textbooks (Class 7-10) in West
Bengal.)
Initiatives in School Education
Muslims have the
largest percentage share of children in the age group of less
than 10 years with 27 percent falling in this range as compared
to the 23 percent for the country as a whole. However, the
current enrolment and continuation rates at elementary level
(though picking up in recent years) are the lowest for the
Muslims. These facts make primary education particularly
important for the Community and the need to ensure that all
children in the age group 0-14 have access to free and high
quality education more urgent. In addition, the following
initiatives are desirable:
Ø Given the fact that a substantial proportion
of households in urban settlements live in one-room
accommodation it is absolutely necessary to create local
community study centres for students so that they can spend a
few hours to concentrate on their studies. This is an area in
which the government, NGOs and the corporate sector can
cooperate.
Ø High quality Government schools should be set
up in all areas of Muslim concentration.
Ø Exclusive schools for girls should be set up,
particularly for the 9-12 standards. This would facilitate
higher participation of Muslim girls in school education. In
co-education schools more women teachers need to be appointed.
Ø
Availability of primary education in one’s mother tongue is
constitutionally provided for. There is an urgent need to
undertake appropriate mapping of Urdu speaking population and
provide primary education in Urdu in areas where Urdu speaking
population is concentrated.
Once again utilization of JNNURM funds for this
purpose should be explored.
Technical Education and Training for
Non-matriculates
As noted in the chapter on education, majority
of Muslim girls and boys fail in their matriculation
examinations or drop out before that. This group of children who
have completed middle school but have not managed to study
further needs to be incorporated in different types of technical
training. The skill demands in the manufacturing and service
sectors are changing continuously. And for many of these, highly
educated/trained persons may not be required and youth with
middle school education with adequate technical training may be
appropriate for meeting these needs. However, almost all
vocational training programmes run by the ITI’s and polytechnics
require a matriculation certificate. The Committee recommends
that:
Ø The pre-entry qualification for admission to
ITIs should be reduced to Class VIII. The scope of ITI courses
should be expanded to focus on emerging market needs including
those of the retail sector.
Ø Skill development
initiatives of ITIs and polytechnics should focus on sectors
which have high growth potential and in which the Muslim
population is concentrated. These training initiatives should
also focus on areas where the minority population is
concentrated.
Ø The eligibility for such programmes should
also be extended to the Madarsa educated children, as they are
ineligible to get trained under many current formal technical
education streams.
Initiatives for Higher Education
Our analysis has shown that there is a high
"deficit" as far as Muslim population in higher education is
concerned. And this "deficit" is higher than for all SRCs except
SCs/STs. It has been already mentioned that the best long term
measure to correct this deficit is to increase school completion
rates among the Muslims. In the medium and short run, a two
prong strategy can be employed:
Strategy No. 1: The University Grants
Commission (UGC) should be encouraged to evolve a system where
part of the allocation to colleges and universities is linked to
the diversity in the student population. Even private colleges,
including those run by the minorities and which have affiliation
with universities or are recognized by state bodies can be
provided additional funds if they have a diverse student
population and charge reasonable fees. As mentioned earlier, an
appropriate diversity index will need to be developed for such
purposes. It is advisable that the UGC undertakes a proactive
exercise to sensitize the educational institutions with respect
to the need to reflect diversity on these campuses.
The Muslims of some states like Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu have established a number of ‘minority
managed professional institutions’ which have opened up avenues
for higher education for Muslims and other minorities. They need
to get encouragement as community initiatives but even these
institutions need to have diverse populations. Government
financial aid to these institutions can be linked to low tuition
and other fees and partly to diversity of student population.
These ‘minority institutions’ are typically inaccessible to the
poor from these communities. Low fees combined with
merit-cum-means scholarships (partly funded from the additional
government grants) would enhance participation of poor among the
minorities.
Strategy No. 2: To facilitate admissions for the
‘most backward’ amongst all the SRCs in the regular universities
and autonomous colleges, alternate admission criteria need to be
evolved.
This system should help the poor among all
communities. As a complement to the first strategy, part of
state funding can also be linked to the use of such criteria in
admissions by the educational institutions.
Provision of Hostels
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. The
availability of such hostels would ensure that many girls would
continue schooling (beyond secondary/college education) as they
would not have to commute on a daily basis to access educational
institutions located at a distance from their place of
residence. Hostels are equally important in the context of boys
accessing college education. High rents in cities are a
deterrent for those from lower income households to access
higher levels of education. Besides the high cost are other
factors, like reluctance to accept Muslims as tenants, which
make it difficult for them to rent accommodation. Ideally, the
provision of such facilities should be made in partnership with
the Community; the State can facilitate Community initiatives in
this area through grants and other support. The taluka
headquarters and educational centres would be the best locations
for such facilities.
Another possibility is to create boarding houses
for backward SRCs in taluka headquarters where a large number of
poor minority and other children can stay and study in local
schools. This may reduce dropout rates and ensure retention in
school up to higher secondary levels. Apart from taking the
children out of the ghettos, such facilities would ensure that
the backlog of parental illiteracy will not negatively impact
the performance of these children because of the ‘learning
friendly’ atmosphere in these hostels. In fact, tutors can be
provided for remedial classes in these boarding houses to
supplement and monitor their studies.
For both these initiatives allocations can be
made from the special funds earmarked by the Centre for the
upliftment of the educational status of educationally backward
groups. Once again, participation of the Community should be
encouraged. Muslim Wakfs should be encouraged to utilize their
assets for this endeavour. In addition, donations from NGOs and
multilateral organizations can also be utilized.
Teacher Training Programme
Teacher training should compulsorily include in its curriculum
components which introduce the importance of diversity/plurality
within the country and sensitize teachers towards the needs and
aspirations of Muslims and other marginalized communities. The
implementation of this should be monitored by the National
Council of Teacher Education (NCTE). The other issue is that of
dearth of Muslim school teachers, especially women. Given the
current education levels, the possibility of more Muslims opting
for B.Ed course is limited. But more Muslims may be able to
participate as para teachers. An effort should be made to
enhance participation of Muslims in this cadre as an interim
measure.
There are only a few teachers who can teach in
the Urdu medium. Given the commitment to provide primary
education in the child’s mother tongue, the State is required to
run Urdu medium schools. This in turn would require teachers
capable of teaching in the Urdu medium. Preference to teachers
who can instruct through the Urdu medium is desirable in all
teacher training departments in states where the Urdu speaking
population is substantial.
Interventions to Support the Urdu Language
While the Urdu language is not a language of the
Muslims alone, contemporary circumstances make it appear to be
so. The language has been neglected. The fallout of this has
been inadequate access to education in the mother tongue for
many Urdu speaking children. The neglect has also resulted in
poor performance of Urdu medium school students because of poor
infrastructural facilities and absence of adequate number of
qualified teachers. As mentioned above, given the constitutional
responsibility of the State, it is imperative that the Urdu
language is supported to provide a regular stream of Urdu
teachers. Moreover, for secondary education the distortions made
in the Three Language Formula should be corrected in order to
accommodate Urdu in schools of the Hindi region. In addition,
three more measures are desirable:
Ø 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.
Ø High quality Urdu medium schools can be opened
in those parts of the country wherever there is demand for them.
However, it needs to ensured that good quality textbooks are
available in the Urdu language and the products of these schools
are employable.
Ø Urdu should be introduced as an optional
subject in all government and government-aided schools in states
having a substantial Urdu speaking population.
Madarsas and Mainstream Education
Madarsas have played an important
role in providing religious education to the Muslim population.
They also provide ‘mainstream’ education in many cases and
several of them are in the process of modernizing their
curriculum. While this is an important initiative of the
Community to improve educational conditions, it is important to
take note of the fact that less than 4 percent of the Muslim
children in the school going age actually attend the full-time
regular Madarsas. Therefore, the modernized Madarsas are
unlikely to satisfy the educational demand of the Community and
the State will have to make provisions for mainstream schools in
areas where such schools are not available. In other words,
Madarsas should not to be looked upon as alternatives to the
regular school, but a complement. The following steps seem
desirable:
Ø 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.
Ø
Provision of "equivalence" to
Madarsa certificates/degrees for subsequent admissions into
institutions of higher level of education. Flexibility should be
introduced so as to enable Madarsa graduates to move across to
regular mainstream education after graduating from these
institutions, if they so wish. In other words the opportunity
should be made available to them, especially in courses where
admission is done through an entrance test/competitive
examination.
Ø Recognition of the degrees from Madarsas for
eligibility in competitive examinations such as the Civil
Services, Banks, Defence Services and other such examinations.
The idea is to facilitate a process whereby Madarsa graduates
too have a choice and an incentive to participate in these
employment streams. This should, however, remain within the
existing framework of these competitive examinations.
Ø In the 1990s government introduced a scheme
for modernization of Madarsas. This was a step in the right
direction but it was robbed of part of its utility because of
some deficiencies relating for example to choice of subjects,
quality of teachers, accommodation of the modern subjects in a
timetable intensely packed with traditional subjects. Government
will be well advised to review and revamp the scheme before
embarking on its expansion.
3.2 Enhancing Access to Credit and Government
Programmes
The chapters on Bank Credit and Government
Programmes have highlighted the fact that flow of credit to
Muslims is quite limited. While part of this could possibly be
due to lower demand for credit due to low income levels of the
Community, low access to credit cannot be ignored. Lack of
access to credit is a more serious problem for the Community as
a significantly larger proportion of workers are engaged in
self-employment, especially home-based work. Therefore,
non-availability of credit can have far-reaching implications
for the socio-economic and educational status of the Community.
Wherever comparative analysis between Muslims and other
minorities has been carried out, it has been shown that the
access of other minorities to credit from banks and other
programmes is far better than Muslims and they are at times the
principal beneficiaries of some programmes wherever targeting
has been done. In some programmes where Muslims have received an
adequate share of credit, the total flow of funds has been low.
The chapter on Poverty has also shown higher presence of Muslims
in ‘persons below poverty line’. Keeping in mind these empirical
facts, the following recommendations can be made:
Ø Several complaints about the exclusion of
Muslim concentrated areas from the activities of the banks have
been reported to the Committee. To partly address at least this
perception, a simple regulation on the lines of the one adopted
by the government of the United States, is desirable. All banks
should be required to provide information to anyone who asks
about the localities to which loans have been disbursed. If
sharing information with the individuals can add significantly
to the transaction costs, such information can be provided to
the Reserve Bank of India, which in turn can provide this
information to others under the Right to Information Act. The
information regarding the SRC background of customers and
clients should also be maintained by the banks and made
available to the RBI. It is not required to provide information
on individual accounts but aggregated across SRCs.
Ø The Committee, therefore, recommends promoting
and enhancing access to Muslims in Priority Sector Advances. Any
shortfall in achievement of targeted amounts in minority
specific programmes should be parked with NMDFC, NABARD and
SIDBI, and specific programmes should be funded with this
amount. However, the real need is for policy initiatives that
improve the participation and share of the Minorities,
particularly Muslims, in the business of regular commercial
banks. Since the size of the credit flows through regular
banking channels is much higher than various community specific
programmes, higher participation of minorities will result in
larger gains to them.
Ø Analysis of the Census of India 2001 results
has indicated that banking facilities are inversely correlated
to the proportion of the Muslim population in a
village/locality. This issue should be addressed on a priority
basis by providing incentives to banks to open more branches in
Muslim concentration areas. Instead of reporting ‘Amount
Outstanding’, the RBI periodic reports on Priority Sector
Advances should contain data on ‘Sanctions or Disbursements to
Minorities’ in the reporting period, along with the ‘amount
outstanding’. The modified reports on priority sector advances
should also segregate figures furnished under ‘Others’ to
reflect the deployment of funds by banks in institutions like
NABARD and other financial institutions.
Ø The Committee also recommends that the
coverage under Public Programmes should be extended to include
more schemes and should also include lending by NABARD and SIDBI.
SIDBI should set aside a fund for training for minorities under
its Entrepreneurial Development Programme. Such programmes
should not only aim to improve skills of artisans in traditional
occupations but also re-equip them with modern skills required
to face the adverse effects of globalization in their area of
artisanship. Given the substantial presence of Muslims in these
occupational groups special attention should be given to them.
Ø While the
available data is inadequate, there is a widespread perception
that the participation of Muslims in the Self Help Groups (SHGs)
and other micro credit programmes is very limited. (See Sud
(2004), for some instances showing lower participation of
Muslims in SHGs.)
A policy to enhance the participation of
minorities in the micro credit schemes of NABARD should be laid
down. This policy should spell out the intervention required by
NABARD through a mix of target and incentive schemes based on
the population percentage of Muslims in the village in order to
enhance the participation of Muslims in micro credit. In any
case, data on the participation of different SRCs in such
schemes should be collected and shared with the RBI or the NDB.
The implementation of such schemes may need to be tailored to
specific situations.
(For example, quantitative targets with respect
to the minimum number of SHGs to be formed may be set for
villages with more than 50% Muslim population. Given the
dominance of Muslims in the population, this will automatically
enable the inclusion of Muslims into the micro credit movement.
In villages where Muslims constitute 25-50% of the population,
the intervention strategy should be based on assessments of the
socio-economic profile of Muslims. Multi-dimensional targets may
have to be set, based on self-set targets to increase Muslim
participation. In villages with less than 25% Muslim population,
Self Help Promotional Institutions to form, train, educate and
motivate SHGs to establish credit linkages could be offered
financial incentives to increase Muslim participation. Since
Muslims are mainly concentrated in the non-farm sector, activity
specific schemes should be introduced. Blocks/Clusters should be
mapped according to artisanal activities. In order to face
competition, intervention strategies should address their
problems through training, skill up-gradation and marketing.)
Ø The detailed analysis of Muslim participation
in government employment and other programmes has shown very
limited participation in both. While no discrimination is being
alleged, it may be 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.
Ø There is a need to revise the coverage of
districts under the Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme based on
the Census 2001 data. The Committee recommends that all 58
districts with more than 25% Muslim population should be brought
under the 15 Point Programme. A special assistance package for
the development of these districts should be launched. The same
principle might be applied to units taluka/block with similar
concentration of Muslims.
Ø 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. There should be provision for
reporting default and delays in processing/rejection of
application at the state/district/block levels. In line with the
thrust towards greater transparency, applicants should also have
full right to information about the status of their
applications. The information regarding the application and the
processing stage should be made known to the applicant on
request. This information should also be made available through
the website and touch screens to the applicants. This is a
far-reaching measure which will benefit not only Muslims but all
communities.
Ø The review of Government programmes suggests
that Muslims have not benefited much from them. At times the
Muslims do not have adequate participation as beneficiaries;
when participation is adequate, the total amounts allocated to
the programme are too low to make any meaningful impact. The
current formats in which the data are kept do not permit easy
assessment of the benefits that have accrued to various SRCs.
Detailed data should be collected regularly on the participation
of different SRCs in government programmes, both at the state
and the Central level. As suggested earlier such data should be
made available to the NDB which will maintain it and make it
available to users.
Ø Last but not the least, although 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. Even the
available schemes are inadequately funded. Overall, targeting
backward districts and clusters where special artisanal groups
exist will ensure a sharp reduction in disparities of access and
attainment. The Central Government should introduce a few
schemes with large outlays for welfare of minorities with an
equitable provision for Muslims.
3.3 Improving Employment Opportunities and
Conditions
The country is going through a high growth
phase. This is the time to help the underprivileged to utilize
new opportunities through skill development and education. A
large segment of the Muslim community is engaged in
self-employment activities. Besides, a significant proportion,
especially women, is actually engaged in home-based work. While
some of these workers are engaged in sectors that have
experienced growth, many are engaged in occupations/sectors that
are stagnant. The policy intervention needs to help workers
engaged in growth-oriented sectors to become part of the larger
network of market-oriented firms engaged in that sector. For
those caught in the stagnant sectors, a transition path will
have to be evolved. Skill up-gradation, education and credit
availability referred to earlier will have an important role in
both these strategies. The other deficit is in regular
employment, as a very small proportion of Muslim workers are
engaged in regular work, especially in salaried jobs with the
public sector or the large private sector. The conditions of
work of not only the self-employed Muslim workers but also the
regular workers are precarious.
Given these conditions, the following
initiatives seem desirable:
Ø Provide financial and other support to
initiatives built around occupations where Muslims are
concentrated and that have growth potential. These initiatives
can take the form of interventions where existing skills of the
workers are combined with knowledge of modern management
practices, new technology and emerging market needs. Such
initiatives need State support but market orientation of such
initiatives is critical for their success. In specific contexts
the skilled persons benefiting by these interventions may
consist of youth who have not had adequate schooling. In these
situations the intervention may need to include some educational
content as an essential concomitant.
Ø
While initiatives of the kind
discussed in the earlier point can also be undertaken in
areas/clusters which have large concentrations of Muslim
population, a few more cluster/area specific initiatives are
desirable. Since skill up-gradation needs might be high in such
clusters, location of ITIs, polytechnics and other institutions
that provide skill training to non-matriculates need to be
located here. Availability of such institutions in the vicinity
would not only help those sections of the workers who are
involved in growth-oriented industries but also those who wish
to move to new sectors through skill formation or up-gradation.
Ø Given the precarious conditions of the
self-employed persons in the informal sector, especially the
home-based workers, it is desirable to have a mandated social
security system for such workers. Casual workers in the informal
sector should also be able to participate in such schemes. Since
the State is already thinking of such a scheme, an early
implementation would benefit a large section of the Muslim
population along with helping the larger segment of the informal
sector workforce. (See Social Security for the Unorganized
Sector, National Commission of Enterprises in the Unorganized
Sector, Government of India, New Delhi, May 2006.)
Ø A more transparent recruitment system will
help to build public confidence in the system. It is not being
suggested that inclusion of minorities in selection committees
will improve the chances that Muslims will get selected, it can
surely improve the confidence of Muslim applicants during the
selection process.
Ø It is imperative to increase the employment
share of Muslims particularly in contexts where there is a great
deal of public dealing. Their public visibility will endow the
larger Muslim community with a sense of confidence and
involvement and help them in accessing these facilities in
larger numbers and greater proportion. To achieve this, efforts
should be made to increase the employment share of Muslims
amongst the teaching community, health workers, police
personnel, bank employees and so on. Employers should be
encouraged to endorse their organizations as ‘Equal Opportunity
Institutions’ so that applicants from all SRCs may apply. A time
bound effort in this direction is desirable.
Ø As our data shows, when Muslims appear for the
prescribed tests and interviews their success rate is
appreciable. This applies both to public and private sector
jobs. Some simple measures like undertaking a visible
recruitment process in areas and districts with high percentage
of Muslims, job advertisements in Urdu and vernacular newspapers
and other media, or simple messages like ‘women, minority, and
backward class candidates are encouraged to apply’ may create an
atmosphere of trust and confidence. Similarly, not as a measure
to eliminate discrimination but as an initiative to build
confidence, it may be useful to have at least one Muslim
inspector/sub-inspector in the Muslim concentrated Thanas,
Muslim health personnel in health units located in such areas, a
few Muslim teachers in schools located in such areas and so on.
3.4 Enhancing the Efficacy of Infrastructure
Provision
Inadequate availability of infrastructure is one
of the many problems that Muslims share with all poor,
especially the disadvantaged SRCs in the country. While the
number of service providers from the non-governmental
organizations is on the rise, public provision of infrastructure
remains critical and desirable. Sensitivity to the issues of
different SRCs is very important to the delivery of services
such as primary education, health, etc. Service providers face a
number of difficulties in reaching out to the Muslim community
for various reasons, ranging from a sheer lack of understanding
of issues particular to the Community to lack of Muslim presence
in the organization and a sense of suspicion which the Community
may have towards them. It is alleged that in many situations,
the service providers have inherent biases and show resistance
to reach out to the Community. To correct this situation the
following measures are suggested.
Ø Sensitization of the service staff regarding
issues of social exclusion has already been mentioned and can be
quite useful in reducing these problems.
Ø Credible NGOs, with necessary expertise, from
the Muslim community are few and far between. But many face
problems in getting their organizations registered. The
registration of trusts set up by the Community, such as Wakf
institutions and mosque committees, should be facilitated. These
institutions, being closer to the community, can indeed play an
important role as intermediaries between policy programmes
announced by the government and their beneficiaries within the
Muslim community. Besides, there is need to encourage the
setting up of civil society organizations from amongst the
Muslim community as well. But once again, the reach of such
organizations is going to be very limited and the responsibility
of the State in providing basic health and other infrastructure
facilities remains the main hope of all poor, including Muslims.
Ø Lack of access to crucial infrastructural
facilities is another matter of concern for the Muslims. Access
to schools, health care, sanitation facilities, potable water
and means of daily transportation are some of the basic
facilities one can expect a state to provide for its citizens.
Differentials in accessibility of infrastructural facilities
vis-a-vis other SRCs has been discussed in Chapter 9 which shows
relatively low access to such facilities for Muslims across
India except in the state of Kerala. As is the case for some of
the issues discussed above, as far as infrastructural facilities
go there seems to be not much of an argument in building a case
for Muslims alone. Wherever these facilities are lacking they
impact the entire people in that vicinity/region who are
dependent upon it. For example, if a Muslim concentration
village does not have a school or a health care facility, then
the other SRCs of that village are at an equal disadvantage as
they too are bereft of this facility. The government would
therefore be well advised that all villages/towns/habitations be
provided with basic amenities, good quality government schools
and health facilities, pucca approach roads and general
improvement in living conditions (supply of
electricity/housing/clean drinking water and sanitation). This
is in the overall interest of India and not only of Muslims
alone. Not providing these basic facilities is a violation of
human rights.
3.5 Encouraging Community Initiatives
Many of the measures suggested above would
become more efficacious if there is community participation. In
fact, partnerships between the government, the community and the
private sector may be quite useful to deal with problems faced
by the Muslims. In this context, better utilization of Wakf
properties can provide partnership opportunities. Large numbers
of Wakf properties spread all over the country have been in a
state of neglect. They have often been exploited by unscrupulous
persons. This has been possible because the administration of
Wakf properties has been slack. The report has pointed out the
deficiencies and flaws in the management and suggested the
necessary legal and administrative steps to remedy them. These
would merit the immediate attention of the authorities so that
better management of the properties results in raising resources
for a number of welfare activities, some of which can be
undertaken in partnership with the government and the private
sector.
It is a matter of great satisfaction for this
Committee that this report has addressed most of the problems
that the Muslim community has been facing. It has made
comprehensive recommendations for setting the Community on the
road to progress. 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. It is also expected that the
Report would invoke a positive response from Civil Society,
which will ensure that the policy measures introduced by the
State in pursuance of these recommendations receive full support
and active cooperation from all sections of society, including
the Muslim community. The issues relating to disparities across
socio-religious communities are of utmost importance to our
nation today. If this Report contributes in any way in
constructively dealing with these issues and in facilitating a
more informed discussion on them, the Committee’s efforts would
be well rewarded. |