Religion, Caste And Tribe Based Reservation - 4

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<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Muslims don't qualify for Dalit quota: Arjun


New Delhi: HRD minister Arjun Singh may have thrown down the gauntlet to his party colleagues and the Left when he all but ruled out the possibility of including Dalit Muslims within the ambit of reservation for Scheduled Castes. Citing the constitution and the "background and philosophy behind the Scheduled Caste quota", he said, "we should see how much they can be accommodated in the OBC quota."

The HRD minister’s stand is that the prevailing constitutional framework doesn’t allow for religion based reservation quotas. However, sections of Muslims and other minorities are classified as other backward classes.

In this context, the best the HRD ministry can do is provide for greater access to OBCs and to ensure that Muslims included in the OBC list have fair access to educational opportunities. "The constitution doesn’t allow for Muslim (religion based) quotas.

However, the OBC list does include minorities," Mr Singh said. His stand is at odds with that of his cabinet colleague, the minister for minority affairs A R Antulay. The minority affairs minister has argued for the inclusion of Dalit Muslims and Christians in the reserved SC/ST category.

The argument being that by changing their faith they have not changed their status, social and economic backwardness and the burden of being downtrodden for centuries. Arjun Singh’s position is also at variance with the Left’s position on reservation for Dalit Muslims.

During the deliberations of the Fatmi Committee to look into the education related recommendations of the Sachar report, a section of Muslim MPs and civil society leaders asked for a review of Article 341, so as to extend Scheduled Caste reservation to Dalit Muslims.

In a manner similar to the extension provided for neo-Buddhists and SC Sikhs. Besides the constitutional position on religion-based reservation, Mr Singh felt that Muslims should be claiming a share of the Scheduled Caste reservation quota.

The HRD minister also spoke of his ministry’s annual plan. Acknowledging that while progress on the CMP promise of spending 6% of GDP on education is yet to be fulfilled, he expressed hope that the target will be reached by the end of the Eleventh Plan.