By Our Correspondent
MUMBAI—The inordinate delay in carrying out a detailed study through the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to assess social, financial and educational status of Muslims in 56 cities of Maharashtra has raised the eyebrows of Opposition parties in the state. The Eknath Shinde government had commissioned the study in September 2022 and earmarked Rs. 33.92 lakh for it.
While the decision to conduct the study came as a surprise to the state’s political circles, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party hailed it as a fulfilment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. The Opposition also raised questions about the implementation of the recommendations of the previous Mahmood-ur-Rehman Committee, set up in 2008 by the then Congress-NCP government.
Significantly, the Minority Development Department in Maharashtra is headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. He commissioned the study on the “social, educational and economic status of the Muslim community” in 56 cities in six revenue divisions of the state which have a sizeable Muslim population. The study was to be conducted by the TISS.
The study was also meant to examine the impact of various state policies in the fields of education, health, employment, housing, credit access and infrastructure on the Muslim community. The decision was announced amid the outreach campaign undertaken by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh towards Muslim organisations. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had met All India Imam Organisation chief Umer Ahmed Ilyasi and visited a madrasa run by the group in New Delhi.
About one-and-a-half years after issuing the government resolution (GR) to the TISS for carrying out the study, the Maharashtra government has failed to give work order to TISS, which had been asked to study the status of Muslims and suggest measures to redress their issues. The TISS was to gather information about the living conditions of the Muslim community, infrastructure, financial assistance, and benefits of government schemes by conducting interviews and group discussions in the 56 identified Muslim-dominated cities.
The study was to also see how much the community had benefited from the schemes launched after submission of the Mahmood-ur-Rehman Committee’s report in 2013. Muslims comprise about 11% of the total population in Maharashtra.
A significant section of the Muslim community thinks that not much has changed since the last panel submitted its report. The Mahmood-ur-Rehman Committee’s responsibility was to study the issues hampering day-to-day livelihood of Muslims and suggest measures to deal with it. In 2014, the then Congress-NCP coalition government had announced a 5% reservation for Muslims in government jobs and also in the educational sector.
Before the community could get any of the benefits likely to emerge out of the reservation, the Bombay High Court nullified the government notification in response to a public interest litigation, but concurred that Muslims could be given reservation in education. The BJP which came to power in the state in October 2014 after the court ruling, decided not to continue with the Muslim reservation, claiming that it was not in favour of giving reservation on the basis of religion alone.
The TISS was to carry out the study to pinpoint the various problems and issues which need to be sorted to improve the living and educational conditions of Muslims in Maharashtra. Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh has now written to the Shinde government demanding that a work order be issued to the TISS for carrying out the study and pointing out that the Minority Development Department had issued the GR on September 21, 2022.
Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh
“The government had issued a GR last year and sanctioned Rs. 33 lakh for it. I have been following up with the government and have written multiple letters on the issue. But there has been no positive action on the matter,” Shaikh said. He pointed out that issuing a government order and not implementing it was a violation of law.
Shaikh claimed that a BJP Minister from Mumbai, who has a “special love” for the Muslim community, had obstructed the move. However, the government should not succumb to the pressure of a Minister and it should issue the work order in the larger interest of social justice, he said.
“The issue of reservation for the Muslim community has been stalled for many years. Dhangars, Marathas and Other Backward Class groups have become aggressive in their demands. Against this backdrop, the socio-economic status of the Muslim community must be clear. Hence, the government should issue the work order to TISS to start the work immediately,” Shaikh said.
It remains to be seen when the BJP government in Maharashtra will realise the significance of its own decision and ensure its implementation by getting the TISS on the task. The decision to set up the study was planned as an outreach measure to the state’s Muslims amid a growing concern that the community was gradually feeling alienated over the issues such as the ban on Hijab, survey of madrasas and constant discrimination in various fields.
The Mahmood-ur-Rehman committee, which submitted its report in 2013, had said that nearly 60% of Muslims in Maharashtra lived below the poverty line. The community’s share in government jobs was only 4.4%, and its total number of graduates stood at 2.2%, the report said. The committee had recommended an 8% reservation for the community in the government jobs, education and housing.
