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Misra Report on minorities reservation will be placed in Parliament: PM:
Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh today said the report of the Ranganath Misra
Committee would be placed in Parliament during the current session. Ranganath Misra
Committee deals with the issue of the reservation....
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New Delhi:
The
report of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic
Minorities, headed by former Chief Justice of India Rangnath Mishra was tabled by Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in the Lok
Sabha on Friday. The move has upset the VHP leadership.
The
Commission formed after the Sachar Committee Report
was handed over to the Prime Minister has recommended 10
per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for other
minorities in government jobs and favoured Scheduled Caste status
for Dalits in all religions.
Among a host of recommendations, the Commission recommends delinking
of Scheduled Caste status from religion and abrogation of the 1950
Scheduled Caste Order which "still excludes Muslims, Christians,
Jains
and Parsis from the SC net."
The
Order originally restricted the SC status to
Hindus
only but was later opened it to Buddhists and Sikhs.
With
regard to quota, the Commission says that 10 per cent should be
reserved for Muslims and five per cent for other minorities in
central and state government jobs in all cadre and grades.
It
added that in case of non-availability of Muslims to fill the 10 per
cent earmarked seats, these may be made available to other
minorities but in "no case" shall any seat within the recommended 15
per cent shall be given to anybody from the majority community.
Member Secretary of the Commission Asha Das has, however, given a
note of dissent on the the Commission's recommendation for
conferment of SC status on Dalit converts to Christianity and
Islam
saying there was "no justification" for it.
Besides, she has said that as Dalit converts to Christianity/Islam
do not qualify for inclusion as SCs, they should continue to form
part of OBCs and avail facilities and reservations given to the OBCs
until a comprehensive list of Socially and Educationally Backward (SEB)
is prepared.
The
Commission has, however, rejected the contentions made by Das in the
dissent note and said "(we) firmly stand by every word of the
recommendations, we have made under this term of reference."
The
Commission also suggested an alternative route for reservation to
minorities if there is "insurmountable difficulty" in implementing
the recommendation for 15 reservation.
In
this regard it said since minorities constitute 8.4 percent of the
total OBC population according to the Mandal Commission report so in
the 27 percent OBC quota, an 8.4 percent sub quota should be
earmarked for minorities.
The
internal break-up should be 6 percent for the Muslims, commensurate
with their 73 percent share in the total minority population at the
national level and 2.4 percent for other minorities.
Togadia
threatens stir
Meanwhile, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia
threatened a nationwide agitation if the government made any move to
implement the report of the Ranganath Mishra Commission for
reservation for Muslims and other minorities. "It is
anti-constitutional, anti-national and anti-Hindu," he alleged.
Togadia, VHP secretary general, condemned the report terming it as
against the spirit of the founding fathers of the Indian
constitution and said if implemented, it would particularly be
damaging to the interests of the vulnerable sections of Hindu
society.
"Implementation of such a report is set to encourage religious
conversions, particularly among the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled
Tribes and other backward classes to take advantage of this
development," he said.
"The
present government is trying to undo the conscious decision of the
constituent assembly not to provide for religion-based reservation."
"The
implementation of the report will mean death for the Hindu SCs, STs
and OBCs and their children," he added.
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