Status of Muslim

INTRODUCTION

Muslim community alone constitute 13.4% of the total Indian population, it is the second largest community of India. It has been 62 years since we gain independence; still the status of muslim has not improved much. Inspite of this fact, they are still illiterate, culturally backward and poverty-ridden strata of society. After the Nehru era, in the face of the challenge to the leadership Indira Gandhi made conscious efforts to create mass base for herself and started populist schemes targeting SCs, STs and minorities. Under this package while the SCs and STs got share in the poverty alleviation schemes and rural development programmes the Muslims got only the guarantee of secular policy and the promise of protection of their life and property. The successive governments also found it prudent to address the symbolic and emotional issues of Muslim which can be encashed easily in terms of political gains rather than concentrating on their socio-economic development. Thus even after 62 years of independence the pampered community remained as the most backward community economically and educationally To understand the social progress, social involvement and social interaction of this community we can study them on respective grounds:

Social, Political, Educational, Economical Status: Communalism Access to government programmes and policies: Role of NGOs Social Work approach towards minority or Muslim development

Social, Political, Educational, Economical Status:

Social Status:
The social status of muslim is very poor in terms of education, economic condition, identity of individual or group, rights, political say, civic amenities and health prospects. As far as their identity is concerned, it is a problem because ignorance of various communities has become a curse for Muslims. They are exploited because of their physical identity like beard topi and burqa. The marker of muslim identity while adding distinctiveness of Indian Muslims have been a cause of concern for them in Public Realm.

Continuous communal violence had made their life suffer economically, educationally and above all socially. This violence has created ghettos, another reason for this is the fact that Hindu landlords simply refuse to rent out their house to them.

This ghettoisation has led to sharp decline of opportunity of social interaction between members of different communities and, consequently to the strengthening of an insular mentality, because of which community is not able to properly articulate its views and concerns before a wider public.

It also strengthens the hold of conservative religious forces. Along with all this these places typically seems to deprive of government infrastructure, sewage

facilities, banks and primary health centers etc. All these things can affect both educational and economic growth.

Political Status:
The participation of Muslim in politic has been very poor. It was alleged by many that participation is denied to Muslims through a variety of mechanisms. Like, one can see that out of the 543 candidates in the current Lok Sabha, only 36 are Muslims. Even if the share of Muslims in elected bodies is low they and other under-represented segments can be involved in the decision making process through innovative mechanisms. It was also pointed out that many names of Muslims were missing in the voter lists of a number of states. Not only does this dis-empower them, it also makes them ineligible as beneficiaries of government schemes. This can be seen as discriminatory and certainly reduces the opportunities that Muslims have to get elected to democratic institutions. We should make participation of Muslims as an integral part of policy for their development. Enhancement of their democratic participation and role in policy making is important, as one can see that lack of participation in political process and governance is also one of the main reasons for backwardness of muslims

Educational Status:
Muslims are the most backward community educationally. The 1986 New Education Policy also recognized Muslims along with Neo- Buddhists as the educationally backward community. Access to education is critical to benefiting from emerging opportunities that go with economic growth. The right to education is a fundamental right; the Report establishes the extent of educational deprivation experienced by the Muslim community. Muslims are at a double disadvantage with low levels of education combined with low quality education. Their deprivation increases many-folds as the level of education rises. 25 percent of Muslim children in the 6-14 year age group have either never attended school or have dropped out. At the level of higher education, less than 4 percent Muslims are graduates or diploma holders as against the national average of 7 percent for the age group 20 and above. At the postgraduate level, only one out of twenty students is a Muslim.

Experts believe that due to the lack of affirmative actions (reservation in employment) muslims have not been able to respond to the challenge of improving their educational status.

Probable Reasons for backward Educational Status

There are two commonly prevalent explanations regarding educational backwardness among Muslims in contemporary India. One explanation is that they have been slow to take advantage of governmental liberal policy regarding education since the independence due to their particular attitude or cultural ethos.. They generally prefer sending their children to a traditional Islamic educational institution rather than to a modern institution. It was found that apart from the economic circumstances of the households, school enrolment for different communities is significantly affected by the local level of development (e.g., availability of schools and other infrastructure) and the educational status of the parents.

Economic Condition
The participation of Muslims in regular salaried jobs, especially in the government or large public and private sector enterprises, is much less than workers of other SRCs (Socio-religious Communities). Instead, Muslims have higher than average reliance on self-employment, home-based work and are concentrated in selfemployed manufacturing and trade activities. This is particularly true in urban areas and for women workers. Taken together, the three self-employed categories constituted about 61 per cent of the total Muslim workforce as compared to about 55 per cent of the Hindu workers. In urban areas this share is 57 per cent for Muslims and 43 per cent for Hindus. Among women the share is as high as 73 per cent for Muslims and 60 per cent for Hindus Only about 13 per cent of Muslim workers are engaged in regular work, 27 % of muslims workers in urban are engaged in regular work and 8 % of rural muslim workers. Given the informal nature of their work participation, they tend to be more vulnerable than other workers with regard to work related industries in terms of type of contract, availability of social benefits and method of payment. Since a large section of the Muslim workers are engaged in self-employment, improvements in employment opportunities for them requires a sharper focus on skill development and related matters.

The Census 2001 data also shows that the WPRs among Muslim women are low. According to the census estimates, the WPRs for Muslim males of all age groups in India were 47.5 per cent as compared to the average of 51.7 per cent for all religious communities. For Muslim women the WPRs were only 14.1 per cent as against the national average of 25.6 per cent.

The low aggregate work participation ratios for Muslims are essentially due to much lower participation in economic activity by women in the community, while they do not differ much for males in various communities. Discouraged worker effect, i.e.; non-availability of employment may result in situations that people (especially women) withdraw from the labour force. One of the reasons for lower participation rates of muslim women may be higher dependency rates due to relatively higher share of younger population in the community, resulting in women staying at home.

Worker population ratios for muslims are significantly lower than for all other SRCs in rural areas but only marginally lower in urban areas. The access of Muslims to bank credit, including the Priority Sector Advance (PSA), is limited .The average size of credit is also meager compared with other groups both in public and private sector banks. The landholding patterns among muslims suggest that it is marginal ownership and many are landless laborers This is a serious problem as a significantly larger proportion of Muslims are engaged in selfemployment, especially home-based work. Non-availability of credit can have far reaching implications for the socio-economic and educational status of Muslims. Difficulties faced in a public sector: Markers of Muslim Identity the burqa, the purdah, the beard and the topi Muslim men donning a beard and a topi are often picked up for interrogation from public spaces like parks, railway stations and markets. Some women who interacted with the Committee informed how in the corporate offices hijab wearing Muslim women were finding it increasingly difficult to find jobs. Muslim women in burqa complain of impolite treatment in the market, in hospitals, in schools, in accessing public facilities such as public transport and so on. Another difficulty they face is that buying or renting property in localities of ones choice. Apart from the reluctance of owners to rent/sell property to Muslims, several

housing societies in non-Muslim localities dissuade Muslims from locating there. This housing problem resulted in the rise of Ghettoisation of this community. In terms of education too, the Muslim parents often face overt discrimination from school authorities when trying to get admission or availing of scholarship schemes for their children. Small acts such as lack of civility in behavior, rude questioning, and an atmosphere which treats them and their children as 'second class' citizens all these combine to create a powerful deterrent, distancing the Muslim community from the school system. This is also one of the reason why the muslim generally prefer sending their children to a traditional Islamic educational institution rather than to a modern institution.

Communalism and Muslims:

The partition of India made the Indian Muslims more vulnerable. It has created an extra ordinary situation overnight. The creation of Pakistan rocked the secular outlook of the Hindus who began to nurse a sense of permanent injury. The Muslim community got a sense of insecurity, frustration and uncertainty out of independence and partition. Thus the Muslims in the post partition India became vulnerable minorities because not only their numbers dwindled but also they lost a voice as they were continuously suspected as the people who are cause for the partition India. One of the best examples is that of the Communal riots of Ayodhya. In this incident in order to win the support of a community political parties overlook the sentiments of muslims and since then it become the bone of contention. Another reason which gave rise to anti-muslim sentiments is the crime committed by the fundamentalists in other countries, the media highlights them & the nonmuslims are so affected by them that they believe that it is a part of all round muslim behavior. Due to these things like the anti-muslim riots & programmes have forced muslims in several places to shift to muslim-dominated localities for safety. Another major problem facing the minorities is the continued eruption of large scale communal riots from time to time. Regardless of which sites starts the riot, the Muslim generally suffers relatives lose in terms of lives lost and property destroyed and in conjunction of each other keeps the Muslim at the gross economic loss. This was clearly evident from Gujarat communal riot 2002, in which several Muslims were victimized as a result of Godhra incident.

The increasing communal polarization & broadening of the hindutva fascist ideological base is being intensely felt by the muslim community in the country during the last two decades.

Access to government programmes and policies:

Muslims are concentrated in locations with poor infrastructural facilities. This affects their access to basic services like education, health facilities, transport etc. Although there are many Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Central Plan Schemes available for the welfare of SCs, STs and OBCs, such schemes for the welfare of minorities are very few, are inadequately funded and have not benefited many Muslims.

Prime Ministers New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities

(A) Enhancing opportunities for Education (1) Equitable availability of ICDS Services The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme is aimed at holistic development of children and pregnant/lactating mothers from disadvantaged sections, by providing services through Anganwadi Centres such as supplementary nutrition, immunization, health check-up, and referral services, pre-school and non-formal education. A certain percentage of the ICDS projects and Anganwadi Centres will be located in blocks/villages with a substantial population of minority communities to ensure that the benefits of this scheme are equitably available to such communities also. (2) Improving access to School Education Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme, and other similar Government schemes, it will be ensured that a certain percentage of all such schools are located in villages/localities having a substantial population of minority communities. (3) Greater resources for teaching Urdu Central assistance will be provided for recruitment and posting of Urdu language teachers in primary and upper primary schools that serve a population in which at least one-fourth belong to that language group. (4) Modernizing Madarsa Education

The Central Plan Scheme of Area Intensive and Madarsa Modernization Programme provides basic educational infrastructure in areas of concentration of educationally backward minorities and resources for the modernization of Madarsa education. Keeping in view the importance of addressing this need, this programme will be substantially strengthened and implemented effectively.

(5) Scholarships for meritorious students from minority communities Schemes for pre-matrices and post- matrices scholarships for students from minority communities will be formulated and implemented. (6) Improving educational infrastructure through the Maulana Azad Education Foundation The Government shall provide all possible assistance to Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF) to strengthen and enable it to expand its activities more effectively. (B) Equitable Share in Economic Activities and Employment (7) Self-Employment and Wage Employment for the poor (a) The Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY), the primary selfemployment programme for rural areas, has the objective of bringing assisted poor rural families above the poverty line by providing them income generating assets through a mix of bank credit and Governmental subsidy. A certain percentage of the physical and financial targets under the SGSY will be earmarked for beneficiaries belonging to the minority communities living below the poverty line in rural areas.

(b)

The Swarn Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY) consists of two major components namely, the Urban Self-Employment Programme (USEP) and the Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP). A certain percentage of the physical and financial targets under USEP and UWEP will be earmarked to benefit people below the poverty line from the minority communities.

(c) The Sampurna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) is aimed at providing additional wage employment in rural areas alongside the creation of durable community, social and economic infrastructure. Since the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) has been launched in 200 districts, and SGRY has been merged with NREGP in these districts, in the remaining districts, a certain percentage of the allocation under SGRY will be earmarked for beneficiaries belonging to the minority communities living below the poverty line till these districts are taken up under NREGP. Simultaneously, a certain percentage of the allocation will be earmarked for the creation of infrastructure in such villages, which have a substantial population of minorities.

(8) Upgradation of skills through technical training A very large proportion of the population of minority communities is engaged in low-level technical work or earns its living as handicraftsmen. Provision of technical training to such people would upgrade their skills and earning capability. Therefore, a certain proportion of all new ITIs will be located in areas predominantly inhabited by minority communities and a proportion of existing ITIs to be upgraded to Centres of Excellence will be selected on the same basis.

(9) Enhanced credit support for economic activities (a)The National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC) was set up in 1994 with the objective of promoting economic development activities among the minority communities. The Government is committed to strengthen the NMDFC by providing it greater equity support to enable it to fully achieve its objectives. (b) Bank credit is essential for creation and sustenance of self-employment initiatives. A target of 40% of net bank credit for priority sector lending has been fixed for domestic banks. The priority sector includes, inter alia, agricultural loans, loans to small-scale industries & small business, loans to retail trade, professional and self-employed persons, education loans, housing loans and micro-credit. It will be ensured that an appropriate percentage of the priority sector lending in all categories is targeted for the minority communities.

(10) Recruitment to State and Central Services (a) In the recruitment of police personnel, State Governments will be advised to give special consideration to minorities. For this purpose, the composition of selection committees should be representative. (b) The Central Government will take similar action in the recruitment of personnel to the Central police forces. (c) Large scale employment opportunities are provided by the Railways, nationalized banks and public sector enterprises. In these cases also, the concerned departments will ensure that special consideration is given to recruitment from minority communities. (d) An exclusive scheme will be launched for candidates belonging to minority communities to provide coaching in government institutions as well as private coaching institutes with credibility.

(C) Improving the conditions of living of minorities (11) Equitable share in rural housing scheme The Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) provides financial assistance for shelter to the rural poor living below the poverty line. A certain percentage of the physical and financial targets under IAY will be earmarked for poor beneficiaries from minority communities living in rural

(12)Improvement in condition of slums inhabited by minority communities Under the schemes of Integrated Housing & Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the Central Government provides assistance to States/UTs for development of urban slums through provision of physical amenities and basic services. It would be ensured that the benefits of these programmes flow equitably to members of the minority communities and to cities/slums, predominantly inhabited by minority communities.

(D) Prevention & Control of Communal Riots (13) Prevention of communal incidents In the areas, which have been identified as communally sensitive and riot prone, district and police officials of the highest known efficiency, impartiality and secular record must be posted. In such areas and even elsewhere, the prevention of communal tension should be one of the primary duties of the district magistrate and superintendent of police. Their performances in this regard should be an important factor in determining their promotion prospects.

(14) Prosecution for communal offences Severe action should be taken against all those who incite communal tension or take part in violence. Special court or courts specifically earmarked to try communal offences should be set up so that offenders are brought to book speedily.

(15) Rehabilitation of victims of communal riots Victims of communal riots should be given immediate relief and provided prompt and adequate financial assistance for their rehabilitation.

Institutions catering to the needs of Muslims/minorities and OBCs such as the National Minority Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) and the National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC) have been established.

Critical Analysis of Government Policy & Programme The ICDS programme appears to have been a failure, as it has not reached any SRC adequately. In the States that submitted data to the Committee, the overall coverage of Muslims is unsatisfactory.

The Maulana Azad Education Foundation was established in 1989 to promote education amongst the minorities. Maulana Azad National Scholarship Scheme Rs. 10,000 each to 5,000 meritorious. The coverage is as low as 0.1% of eligible girls from below poverty line section of the Muslim community. During 2002-03 to 200506 the Foundation has sanctioned grants of only Rs. 27 crores. All these efforts seem to be insufficient when we consider the magnitude of problem. On the one hand, government is trying to improve the education level of the muslims and at the same time total allocation in the four years (April 2002 to March 2006) for Madarsa modernization and infrastructure development is a paltry.

Moreover, in the case of the implementation of the Scheme for Modernization of Madarsas a number of deficiencies were discovered. Some of these were as follows: i) ii) iii) The number and quality of teachers assigned to Madarsas for teaching modern subjects and their remuneration were inadequate. The important aspect of finding space for modern subjects in the Madarsa curriculum appears to have been ignored. The modern stream remained un-supervised at the Madarsa level and uninspected at the state level. Lower enrolment in Urdu medium schools is due to limited availability of such schools at the elementary level.

A brief review of programmes suggests that Muslims have not benefitted much from them. At times Muslims do not have adequate participation as beneficiaries and at others, when participation is adequate, the total amounts involved in the programme are too low to make a meaningful impact. There is also a lack of transparency in the assessment and monitoring of the programmes.

Role of NGOs

In response to the increasing need for assistance, more and more Muslim nongovernment organisations (NGOs) are emerging in India. Traditionally, the Muslim community organisations or Muslim NGOs are assisting poor, sick, orphans, widows, aged, disabled, needy and those affected by calamities. Some of these organisations are also fighting hunger, poverty, and natural and man-made disasters. However, many Muslim NGOs are disorganised, inefficient, inward looking and ineffective. It is disheartening to observe the poor response from the mainstream NGO sector to the socio-economic backwardness of the Muslim community. Muslim organisations

have little or no contact with non-Muslim NGOs, even with the secular NGOs that are committed to the concerns of religious minorities. In the case of some Muslim groups, there is the fear or suspicion of the hidden agenda of other NGOs. Such misgivings and mistrust inhibit any meaningful interaction. By working together with the like-minded mainstream NGOs, Muslim community groups could promote networking, interaction, exchanges and long-lasting partnership. Capacity building of Muslim NGOs can be the beginning of such collaboration.

Community Coordination Initiative

The Community Coordination Initiative (CCI) is a federation of Muslim NGOs. It is dedicated to enhancing social justice, human dignity and sustainable development for the people of India in general and the marginalized in particular, irrespective of caste, gender and religion.

CCIs mission is to improve upon the living condition of poor and marginalized, and to act as a forum for advocacy, alliance building and coordination of Muslim NGOs engaged in community development and volunteerism.

Major objectives of the CCI are as under: To develop a network and alliance of the NGOs working for various dimensions of community development; To organize strategy and mechanism for capacity building of the associated with the CCI; NGOs,

To facilitate inter-organization, cooperation and coordination at various levels of chosen activities for training, orientation and development of volunteers, workers, etc. involved in welfare and charitable activities; To work out a common minimum programme and introduce it in the agenda of each NGO and develop a strategy to implement it; To seek and extend cooperation to NGOs in negotiating for the implementation of government schemes relevant for the development of community and nation.

CCI through its state coordinators is more active in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. District-level contacts and capacity building are more actively pursued in Maharashtra and West Bengal. Recently, these are also being activated in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The programme and service priorities of CCI in 2010 include the following: a) Capacity building of Muslim NGOs; b) Setting up community information centres; c) Promoting Self-Help Groups (SHGs) of Muslim Women.

Suggestion for the improvement of the status of Muslim:

Mechanism to ensure equity and equality of opportunity to bring about inclusion should be such that diversity is achieved and at the same time, the perception of discrimination is eliminated. Creating awareness about the existing schemes and programmes. The procedure of availing the benefits should be shared and told again and again. To sensitize the state bureaucracy at all levels to include Muslims in the different programmes. Muslims should be given reservations in proportion to their population in government services, and educational institutions through out the country and necessary constitutional amendment should be made for this purpose. Monitoring and evaluation of any programme and schemes to check its effectiveness. The government should provide scholarships and hostel facility to the students from Muslim community on par with SC and ST to raise their educational levels. The government should protect the life and property of the Muslims by curbing the communal riots and a new legislation to specially deal with the communal riots should be enacted. Working on to create a common platform for dialogue with people of different community.

References:
Social, Economic and Educational status of the muslim community of India: Sachar committee Communalism in India: Asghar Ali Minorities Rights in India: James Massey CCI--PRIA Report Source: Dr. Gopal Singh report on Minorities, 1983 The National Commission for Minorities recommendations on Sachar Reports Problems of minorities in India-focus on muslims: Dr. Zakir Akhtar Ministry of minority affairs