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The Prime Minister has constituted a High Level Committee to prepare a comprehensive Report on the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community of the country. The report will help in planning, formulating and implementing policies and programmes and to address issues relating to socio-economic backwardness of this community. Mr. Justice Rajinder Sachar is the Chairperson of the Committee. The members of the Committee are; Shri Saiyid Hamid (Educationist), Dr. T.K. Oommen (Sociologist), Shri M.A. Basith (Planner), Dr. Rakesh Basant (Economist), Dr. Akhtar Majeed (Academician) and Dr. Abu Saleh Shariff (Economist) will be the Member Secretary of the Committee.
The Committee will address questions such as:
(1) In which States, Regions, Districts and Blocks do Muslims of India mostly live?
(2) What is the geographical pattern of their economic activity, i.e. what do they mostly do for a living in various States, Regions and Districts?
(3) What are their asset base and income levels relative to other groups across various States and Regions?
(4) (a) What is the level of their socio-economic development in terms of relevant indicators such as literacy rate, dropout rate, Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) etc.?
(b) How does this compare with other communities in various States?
(5) (a) What is the Muslims’ relative share in public and private sector employment?
(b) Does it vary across States?
(c) What is the pattern of such variations?
(d) Is the share in employment in proportion to their population in various States?
(e) If not, what are the hurdles?
(6) (a) What is the proportion of Other Backward Classes (OBC) from the Muslim community in the total OBC population in various States?
(b) Are the Muslim OBCs listed in the comprehensive list of OBCs prepared by the National and State Backward Classes Commissions and adopted by the Central and the State Governments for reservation for various purposes?
(c) What is the share of Muslim OBCs in the total public sector employment for OBCs in the Centre and various States in various years?
(7) (a) Does the Muslim community have adequate access to (i) education (ii) health services (iii) municipal infrastructure (iv) bank credit and (v) other services provided by the Government/public sector entitles?
(b) How does this compare with access enjoyed by other communities in various States?
(c) What is the level of social infrastructure (i) schools (ii) health centers (iii) Anganwadi centers and (iv) other facilities located in areas of Muslim concentration in comparison to the general level of such infrastructure available in various States?
The Committee will consolidate, collate and analyze the information to identify areas of intervention by Government to address relevant issues relating to the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community.
Addressing a press conference here today, Mr. Justice Sachar said that the Committee will finalize its report in 15 months. He appealed to the public to come forward and help the Committee in providing any information or data relating to the Muslims in the country.
SK/MK.
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