http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Khurshid-moots-Muslim-share-in-OBC-quota-pie/articleshow/5364333.cms
Khurshid moots Muslim share in OBC quota pie 22 Dec 2009, 0540 hrs IST, ET Bureau NEW DELHI: In a move that could anger the powerful OBC leadership, the minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid has mooted a controversial proposal — awarding quota for backward classes among Muslims within the existing 27% reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The development that would make another grouping eligible for the 27% OBC quota is certain to be opposed by their leaders. On his part, the minister expressed his doubts about the implementation of the recommendations of the Ranganath Commission report, the trigger for the demand for reservation for minorities and Hindu converts. Striking a cautious note, Mr Khurshid said the report by the National Commission on Religious and Linguistic Minorities, which was tabled in Parliament last week, cannot be rejected outrightly. “I have doubts about the implementation of its recommendations, but it needs to be studied,” the minister said. The commission, headed by Justice Ranganath Mishra, former chief justice of India, has defined religious and linguistic minorities in India as backward classes and recommended 15% reservations for all minorities in jobs, education and welfare schemes. The panel, constituted in October 2004, has recommended 10%, of the 15% quota, for Muslims — the largest minority in the country — in government jobs, educational institutions and social welfare schemes. “Now the report is out in public, we need a debate over it. Full Cabinet has to consider it. We will examine it with sincerity,” Mr Khurshid said. The minister also refused to comment on whether the proposal for religious quota was in accordance with the Constitution. The minister said the panel had the former Supreme Court judge as its head and “the report cannot be dismissed outrightly. We need study it thoroughly and see what can be implemented. As of now I cannot say a clear yes or no,” he said. The Mishra report has said that Indian minorities — “especially the Muslims — are very much under-represented, and sometimes wholly unrepresented” in government jobs. “Educational levels of Muslims and Buddhists are low and next to SC/ST”. ------------------------------------ ---- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [email protected], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to [email protected] TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to [email protected] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
