West Bengal, August 30: Nearly 1.4 crore backward Muslims in West Bengal would be issued OBC certificates under a reservation policy for poor people of the community after the state Cabinet approves the decision on September 22. This will be in keeping with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s promise in February this year that the step will be taken before year-end.
The policy decision has been taken and it awaits approval of the Cabinet on September 22, Bhattacharjee said on Sunday while inaugurating a Haj House-cum-Empowerment Centre at Kaikhali near Kolkata Airport. In effect, after September all advertisements for government jobs will mention that there will be reservation for OBC Muslims.
The move will go a long way in winning back the support of the Muslim community whom the state government antagonised over the years resulting in a dent in Muslim vote bank.
“If SC and ST population can come under reservation, why not the minorities like Muslims?” Bhattacharjee said, adding that the state government was encouraged by recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission in this regard.
The state has 2.2 crore Muslim population and most of the remaining people will come under reservation soon, according to Abdus Sattar, Minister of State for Minority and Madrasa Education. “Fifty-two groups are already in the OBC community and others are going to be included soon,” Sattar told The Indian Express.
When the plan is implemented Muslims will be entitled to a 7-per cent reservation in government jobs. However, since Bhattacharjee had announced for a 10-per cent reservation for Muslims, it was not clear where the remaining 3 per cent will come from.
The Rs 10-crore Haj House is the second of its kind in the state after the one situated near Park Circus in the city, which made West Bengal the only state to have two Haj Houses for the benefit of Haj pilgrims, he said. Bhattacharjee said there was need for such a facility to cater to the growing number of Haj pilgrims in the state. While 1,410 pilgrims went to Haj in 1985, the number rose to 10,272 in 2010.
Bhattacharjee said “minorities were not living in anybody’s mercy” and the government had given approval for starting 12 English-medium madrasas in the state.
In addition to 600 madrasas in the state, steps have been taken to prepare a list of 300 more of the institutions to impart education not only in religion, but also in subjects like science, mathematics and computers to make the minority community students more competitive.
Sattar said unemployed Muslims would be imparted vocational training in 37 trades in the Haj building for nine months by the Aliah University.
——-PTI