QUOTA NO SOLUTION TO MUSLIMS BACKWARDNESS

The Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed on June 9 said reservation was not a foolproof solution to remove the backwardness of Muslims. “What they need more is affirmative action to catch up with other developed sections of the society,” he said in an interview to UNI In fact, the Constitution does not provide quota for Muslims beyond what they have got under the quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category, he sought to point out. “I fail to understand why this question of quota for Muslims always crops up when one talks of backwardness of minorities. I find the discourse meaningless,” he said pointing out that even the Sachar Committee had not found quota enough and that’s why it had recommended a number of affirmative actions for Muslims. Mr Khursheed felt that instead of reservation, he found the setting up of the proposed equal opportunities commission as more important for minorities. He said minorities, especially Muslims, badly required more education and representation in jobs, which could be ensured by the kind of affirmative action proposed by the Sachar Committee. There is also the need for providing better civic amenities for the areas inhabited by minorities and efforts were underway to achieve this task under the multi-sectoral scheme, said the Minister.