80 per cent Muslims having fun with OBC quota: Ramdas Athawale
5 min read
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: A day after the Centre appointed a three-member fee to look at the difficulty of Scheduled Caste (SC) standing for Dalit converts, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale denied allegations that organising of the panel is a delaying tactic and mentioned that the federal government will watch for the Commission to submit its report.
Speaking to this newspaper, Athawale additionally mentioned that 80 per cent of the Muslim Community belongs to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) class and so they avail reservation as per the suggestions of the Mandal Commission.
The Social Justice Ministry in a notification on Friday mentioned that the fee might be headed by former CJI Justice Ok G Balakrishnan and it’ll have two extra members — retired IAS officer Ravindra Jain and UGC member Sushma Yadav. The fee has to submit its report in two years. The ministry’s transfer has invited criticism from teams of Dalit Christians and Muslims, who’ve been demanding the SC standing for a very long time. Many activists described the choice as politically motivated and referred to as it discriminatory.
Responding to the allegations, the minister mentioned that the earlier Congress governments may have acceded to the long-standing demand of the communities and that they delayed it. “If the communities were demanding for a long time, why didn’t the Congress party take a decision? PM Modi is here only for eight years while Congress was in power for many years. Now, they (Congress) are talking about Muslims and Christians,” he mentioned.
Athawale additionally identified that in line with the Presidential orders, reservation advantages can be found solely to Dalit Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists. However, he mentioned that 80 per cent of the Muslim group is listed below the OBC class and the Mandal Commission has given reservations to them. “In Mandal Commission’s list, many Muslim castes are there and they are already getting the reservation. Mandal has given 27 per cent reservation to the OBC community,” he mentioned.
According to the ministry, the Balakrishnan Commission will look at the matter of “according Scheduled Caste status to new persons, who claim to have historically belonged to the Scheduled Castes, but have converted to religions other than those mentioned in the Presidential Orders issued from time to time under Article 341 of the Constitution”.
Athawale mentioned that whereas Dalit Hindus got the SC standing in 1950, Sikhs had been lined in 1956. In 1990, the V P Singh authorities accorded SC standing to Buddhists after calls for from the group.
Activists additionally level out that whereas the earlier governments instituted a number of committees on this regard, no motion was taken on this regard. The UPA authorities below Manmohan Singh arrange the Ranganath Misra Commission in 2004 and the Rajinder Sachar Committee to look at the social, financial, and academic standing of transformed Muslims in 2005.
Though each the panels submitted experiences in favour of giving SC standing to the converts, it wasn’t accepted by the Parliament. However, Athawale says that earlier commissions haven’t given any clear advice on this regard. “No revisions took place because of that. Now, the new committee will look into the issues revolving around it. Once the report comes, the government will review it,” he mentioned.
NEW DELHI: A day after the Centre appointed a three-member fee to look at the difficulty of Scheduled Caste (SC) standing for Dalit converts, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale denied allegations that organising of the panel is a delaying tactic and mentioned that the federal government will watch for the Commission to submit its report.
Speaking to this newspaper, Athawale additionally mentioned that 80 per cent of the Muslim Community belongs to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) class and so they avail reservation as per the suggestions of the Mandal Commission.
The Social Justice Ministry in a notification on Friday mentioned that the fee might be headed by former CJI Justice Ok G Balakrishnan and it’ll have two extra members — retired IAS officer Ravindra Jain and UGC member Sushma Yadav. The fee has to submit its report in two years. The ministry’s transfer has invited criticism from teams of Dalit Christians and Muslims, who’ve been demanding the SC standing for a very long time. Many activists described the choice as politically motivated and referred to as it discriminatory.
Responding to the allegations, the minister mentioned that the earlier Congress governments may have acceded to the long-standing demand of the communities and that they delayed it. “If the communities were demanding for a long time, why didn’t the Congress party take a decision? PM Modi is here only for eight years while Congress was in power for many years. Now, they (Congress) are talking about Muslims and Christians,” he mentioned.
Athawale additionally identified that in line with the Presidential orders, reservation advantages can be found solely to Dalit Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists. However, he mentioned that 80 per cent of the Muslim group is listed below the OBC class and the Mandal Commission has given reservations to them. “In Mandal Commission’s list, many Muslim castes are there and they are already getting the reservation. Mandal has given 27 per cent reservation to the OBC community,” he mentioned.
According to the ministry, the Balakrishnan Commission will look at the matter of “according Scheduled Caste status to new persons, who claim to have historically belonged to the Scheduled Castes, but have converted to religions other than those mentioned in the Presidential Orders issued from time to time under Article 341 of the Constitution”.
Athawale mentioned that whereas Dalit Hindus got the SC standing in 1950, Sikhs had been lined in 1956. In 1990, the V P Singh authorities accorded SC standing to Buddhists after calls for from the group.
Activists additionally level out that whereas the earlier governments instituted a number of committees on this regard, no motion was taken on this regard. The UPA authorities below Manmohan Singh arrange the Ranganath Misra Commission in 2004 and the Rajinder Sachar Committee to look at the social, financial, and academic standing of transformed Muslims in 2005.
Though each the panels submitted experiences in favour of giving SC standing to the converts, it wasn’t accepted by the Parliament. However, Athawale says that earlier commissions haven’t given any clear advice on this regard. “No revisions took place because of that. Now, the new committee will look into the issues revolving around it. Once the report comes, the government will review it,” he mentioned.
