Author: Joginder Singh
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: Nov. 20, 2006
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing
the conference of State Minorities Commissions in the first week of November,
called for a fair share for minorities in Central, State Government and private
sector jobs. Before we ponder the statement, it is important to be clear as
to what constitutes a minority community.
It is the numbers that count, which determines
the majority-minority division. The minority being numerically less, is perceived
weak and has to be empowered separately through special measures to make it
equal to the majority. This is a hypothesis.
Some Government functionaries have expressed
concern over the fact that a section of the minorities were lagging behind
other communities in respect of many socio-economic indicators. In India,
minorities include Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhist, Jains, Christians, Zoroastrians
and a few others. Out of the total population of 102.8 crore in the country
as in the 2001 Census, the Hindus were 82.7 crore in number and constituted
80.5 per cent of the population of the country. The Muslim population stood
at 13.8 crore comprising 13.4 per cent of the population. The next in size
are Christians (2.4 crore), followed by Sikhs (1.9 crore), Buddhists (79 lakh),
Jains (42 lakh) and those following other religions and persuasions including
the tribal religions (66 lakh).
Hindus population growth declined over the
previous decade, their population grew by 20.3 per cent during 1991 and 2001
as compared to 25.1 per cent during 1981-91. Muslim population on the other
hand, grew by 36.0 per cent during 1991-2001, compared to 34.5 per cent during
1981-91. Among Buddhists too there has been a sizeable decline in the growth
rate from 35.3 per cent during 1981-91 to only 24.5 per cent during 1991-2001.
Also, though there is slight increase in the growth rate of the Christians
(from 21.5 per cent to 22.6 per cent), there is a noticeable decline in Sikh
growth rate from 24.3 per cent in 1981-91 to only 18.2 per cent during 1991-2001.
Most prominent in the 2001 Census data released is the growth rate of Jains
(26.0 per cent) during 1991-2001 as compared to their growth of only 4.6 per
cent during the previous decade 1981-91.
The real problem is that the Government is
the biggest employer and it is a craze in middle India to go in for a Government
job. A Government job with a security of tenure till the age of retirement
and a lifelong pension thereafter is the cherished dream of a vast majority
of people. Other attractions include virtual permanence in career irrespective
of performance. Moreover, an unwritten, howsoever unethical, perk is of the
income over and above the salary.
Muslims have not been adequately represented,
says the following data collected by a Committee headed by former Chief Justice
of High Court Rajinder Sachar. 94.9 per cent of Muslims living below the poverty
line (BPL) in rural areas do not receive free foodgrains. While only 3.2 per
cent of Muslims get subsidised loans, just 1.9 per cent of the community benefit
from the Antyodaya Anna Yojana Scheme, a programme meant to prevent starvation
among the poorest of poor by providing food grains at a subsidised rate. 60.2
per cent of Muslims do not have any land in rural areas. National average:
43 per cent. Just 2.1 per cent of Muslim farmers have tractors. With 15,25,000
tractors, India ranks no. 4 after the US, Japan and Italy. In school attendance,
the national average is 40.8 per cent in rural areas and 19.9 per cent in
urban areas. Only 0.8 per cent of Muslims in rural areas are college graduates.
Although nearly 40 per cent of Muslims now
receive modern education in urban areas, only 3.1 per cent of the community
in urban areas are graduates. Just 1.2 per cent is postgraduate. India has
acceded to a number of treaties and declarations, including one that reiterates
India's commitment to abiding by the provisions "in conformity with its
policy of non-interference in the personal affairs of any Community without
its initiative and consent."
The status of personal laws of minority communities
and the plurality of religious laws in general are much debated in the country.
Article 44 of the Constitution gives a commitment to the gradual establishment
of legal uniformity in India. The aim is that the state "shall endeavour
to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of
India." This directive is believed to be a threat by some elements in
some religious minorities that continue to be governed by their own personal
laws in family matters as applied within the structure of the Indian legal
system.
Article 26 also guarantees freedom to manage
religious affairs for every recognised religious denomination or sect. Complexity
arises in reconciling the constitutional protection of the rights of religious
minorities and the Directive Provision of Article 44. It means that legal
uniformity for all citizens will continue to be a chimera.
This difficulty of integration of the secularity
of the Republic and the objective of having a legal uniformity with the protection
of minority rights (also enshrined in the Constitution) has meant that, 59
years since the adoption of the Constitution, the goal of the directive principle
in Article 44 is still far from being realised.
No matter how much Government tries to improve
the lot of minorities, it wouldn't improve without their zeal. The condition
for prosperity is education and only those communities flourish that emphasise
on it. The literacy rate among Hindus (65.1 per cent) is slightly better than
the national average (64.8 per cent) for all religious groups combined. Among
Muslims, the literacy rate is 59.1 per cent, which is below the national average.
The highest literacy rate recorded is among the Jains (94.1 per cent), followed
by Christians (80.3 per cent), Buddhists (72.7 per cent) and Sikhs (69.4 per
cent).
In a competitive environment, one cannot survive
without competence, a quality that comes from education. Even assuming that
15 per cent funds are earmarked for development of the minorities, it will
be only a trickle. Even job reservation from amongst Government and semi-Government
employees, including about five million central Government employees, is not
good enough to address the problem.
How does one compare the gulf in economic
progress between authoritarian yet fast-growing China and democratic, economically
straggler India? Prof Amartya Sen says that India, with its massive neglect
of public education, basic health care and literacy, is poorly prepared for
a widely shared economic expansion; China on the other hand has made substantial
advances in those areas, and was thus able to capitalise on its market reforms.
In fact, what he says should be the starting point for development of minorities,
rather than providing sops here and there and making big pronouncements.
