THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 1 March 2008 — A panel that studied ways to implement Sachar Committee recommendations in Kerala has suggested separate department for Muslim affairs on the lines of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes department.
“We have submitted several proposals to improve the socioeconomic status of the community in Kerala,” Local Self-Government Minister Paloli Mohammed Kutty, who headed the 11-member panel, said recently. “The most important question is how to provide better social and physical infrastructure,” he added.
Among the recommendations are more government schools in the Muslim-dominated areas, ensuring proportional representation of Muslims in government services and agencies and creating self-employment opportunities.
The panel appointed by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government also wants to set up an Arabic University and scholarships for poor Muslim students. The panel recommended that its report should be implemented within six months.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader K.E. Ismail and T.K. Hamza, both members of Parliament, K.T. Jaleel and A.A. Azeez, members of the state legislative assembly, C. Ahmed Kunji, Dr. Hussain Randathani, O. Abdurrahman, Dr. Fazal Gafoor, T.K. Wilson and Kadackal Abdul Azeez Moulavi were members of the panel.
The Sachar Committee was set up by the federal government to study the social, economic and educational status of Muslims and it found the status of Muslims in Kerala much below expectations despite quotas in jobs and education.
“The team has submitted their report and the state Cabinet would take a decision on its recommendations,” Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said after receiving the report. The report of the committee headed by Justice Rajinder Sachar was tabled in Parliament in November, 2006.
Muslims constitute around one-fourths of Kerala’s 32 million people. Though their status is much better when compared to states like West Bengal, the community’s representation in the government services remains at a mere 7.5 percent.
Muslims lag behind even the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of Kerala when it comes to higher education. Studies show a substantial number of posts reserved for Muslims in government services lie vacant.
According to the report of the Narendran Commission, 7,383 posts reserved for Muslims in government services went to other communities. The posts filled by Muslims are usually in lower categories.
Muslim representation in civil services and in senior positions in public sector undertakings stand at 1.6 percent, lower than the Muslim representation in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Out of the 414 posts in the state’s civil services, Muslims hold only seven, whereas SCs and STs hold 59. Muslims are underrepresented even in the state Cabinet, legislature, government boards and corporations.
According to a study by the pro-government Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad only 8.1 percent of Muslims are pursuing higher education as compared to 18.7 percent of Hindus. Comparative figures for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are 10.30 and 11.8 percent respectively.
According to the 2001 census, Muslims constitute 24.7 percent of Kerala’s total population. The Parishad study Kerala Padanam 2006 notes that only 30.5 percent of Muslims in the 18-25 age group are employed, over 55 percent in the same age group are jobless, a figure higher than that for other backward communities.
