Transcript Definition of Scheduled Castes Article 341

HUMAN CHAIN
Sachar Committee Report
Challenges & Opportunities
Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood
President, Zakat Foundation of India
www.zakatindia.org
India Islamic Cultural Centre
New Delhi 25 December 2012
SACHAR REPORT
Government’s
Remedial Policies
should sharply focus
on mainstreaming
of Muslim community
Definition of
Scheduled Castes
Article 341
Constitutional Order of 1950 is
Patently Unconstitutional
It says:
No person
who professes a religion different from
the Hindu, the Sikh or the
Buddhist religion
shall be deemed to be a
member of a Scheduled Caste
Articles 15 and 16
15. The State shall not discriminate against any
citizen on grounds only of religion ….
16. No citizen shall , on grounds of religion, …. be
…discriminated against in respect of, any employment
or office under the State.
Earmarking of
Electoral Constituencies
for
Schedule Castes
Need for corrective measures
Sachar Recommendation
Nominate Muslims
wherever Government has discretion
To illustrate, Sachar quoted A.P. example.
A carefully conceived ‘nomination procedure’
should be worked out to increase
Muslim inclusiveness in governance
Ministry wrote:
This recommendation
concerns AP Govt.
No action has been taken
Sensitize the
Government Officers
It should begin from the
Ministry of Minority Affairs
Evaluate text books
Purge them of
explicit & implicit content
that may impart
religious intolerance
Create high quality
government schools in
Muslim concentration areas
Reduce pre-entry qualification
IITs to class VIII
ITIs & Polytechnics
should focus on sectors
in which
Muslim population
is concentrated
Extend eligibilty for
admission in
ITIs & Polytechnics to
Madarsa educated chldren
UGC should evolve a
system where part of the
grant allocation
is linked to diversity
In universities & colleges
evolve
Alternate Admission Criteria
Merit
Backwardness
60%
40%
(Income & family occupation)
(Sachar Committee Report
Page 246, Statement 12.1)
Build hostels
in partnership with
Muslim community
(Landlords are reluctant
to accept Muslims as tenants)
In the Banks
Enhance access to
Muslims in Priority
Sector Advances
Have Muslims on
Interview Panels
Infrastructure
Wakf properties: Basic Facts
No of Wakf properties:
500,000
Total Land Area:
600,000 acres
Current value:
Rs. 1.2 lakh crores
Current Annual Income
from these properties
Only Rs. 163 crores
0.14 %
Ridiculously Low
Unauthorized Occupations by
Governments
Prime
Minister’s
Letter of
1976
to Chief
Ministers
REASONS ?
(as per Sachar Committee)
BAD LAW
&
MALADMINISTRATION
CEO
State Waqf Board
Interaction
with Officers
of different
Departments,
Mutawallis,
Removing Encroachments,
Leasing / Monitoring
Waqf Properties,,
Court Cases
Tribunal
As per section 23 of the Wakf Act
the CEOs of State Wake Boards
have to be Muslim.
But, in higher bureaucracy
Muslims are not more than 2.5 %.
in
2.5 %
Hence,
AS FOUND OUT BY ZFI IN 2011, UNDER RTI ACT,
CEOs are: Veterinary Doctor, Naib-Tahsildar, BDO,
Junior Employment Officer,
Survey Inspector, Primary Teacher
Obtained under orders of Central Information
Commission
IN THE FILES OF THE MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS
THIS IS THE REMARK REGARDING SACHAR COMMITTEE’S
RECOMMENDATION TO CREATE A SEPARATE CADRE TO
MANAGE WAQFS.
MINISTRY HAS NO RECORD THAT BEFORE IT WAS PRESENTED
TO THE CABINET WHAT DISCUSSION TOOK PLACE ON THIS
TOPIC, IF ANY, AND WHY THE REJECTION OF THIS VITAL
RECOMMENDATION WAS RECOMMENDED TO BE REJECTED.
Copy of Cabinet Note obtained under RTI Act:
DOES NOT GIVE ANY REASON
FOR NOT ACCEPTING THE CREATION OF
INDIAN WAQF SERVICE
Constitution of India
Schedule VII
Concurrent List
28. Charities and charitable institutions, charitable and religious
endowments and religious institutions.
(includes Waqfs)
All-India Services
312. If the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) has declared by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the
Parliament
may by law provide for the creation of one or more all India
services common to the Union and the States, and regulate the
members present and voting that it is necessary or expedient in the national interest so to do,
recruitment, and the conditions of service of persons appointed, to any such service.
SECRETARY / CEO,
CENTRAL WAQF COUNCIL
& STATE WAQF BOARD
OFFICER OF THE
GOVERNMENT
JPC on Waqfs
Headed by
Sri K. Rahman Khan
Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha
9th Report
Muslim officers of appropriate seniority
are generally not available
to be posted as
CEO of State Waqf Boards
http://twocircles.net/2011jul31/central_wakf_council_can_administer_wakf_ca
dre_says_wakf_jpc_chief.html
Mr K. Rahman Khan
This recommendation of the Sachar
Committee has to be taken seriously
WAQFS REQUIRE A SPECIAL CATEGORY OF TRIED
OFFICERS.
WE HAVE ALSO REFERRED THIS IN OUR REPORT JPC REPORT ON WAQF
AND WE HAVE COMPARED IT WITH HINDU CHARITABLE
ENDOWMENT ACT…”
On the models of
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and A.P.
where exists
Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments
Administration Service
Government must withdraw its rejection
of this vital Sachar recommendation
Government must create
INDIAN WAKF SERVICE
Create
INDIAN WAQF
SERVICE
For training
of
officers &
staff,
establish
National Waqf Academy
JPC
Waqf Survey Commissioner’s
Notification shall be treated
as ‘Deemed Mutation’ for
REVENUE
RECORD
DETERMINATION
OF TITLE
For the post of
Secretary, Central Waqf Council
Waqf Act 1995
does not provide any
Qualification
or
his official level in the Government
Sachar Committee recommended:
The level of
Secretary, CWC
shoushould atleast be
Joint Secretary
to the Government of India
The Waqf Bill 2010 ignores this vital recommendation.
It needs to be incorporated in the Bill
JPC :
Establish
(a) National Waqf Properties Development
Board
(b) National Board for Promotion of
Education among Muslims
(c) National Waqf Development Council with
a revolving fund of Rs 500 crore.
Sachar Committee:
Enhance Lease Period
for
Regd Trusts & Regd Societies
to build
Educational Institutions & Hospitals
or for other projects of
Social or Economic Development
consistent with Waqf objectives and
as permissible in Islamic Law.
Tackling the
Encroachment
of
Waqf properties
8 Steps
Sachar Committee:
Sachar Committee:
Widen the definition of
Encroacher
to include one who
Alters the property or
Occupies it
without
Waqf Board’s permission
JPC
Give to the CEO
Magisterial
Powers
&
Powers to Evict
JPC
Declare
Waqf properties
as
Public Premises
for enabling
Eviction
JPC
Punish
Public Servants
for
not removing
encroachment.
JPC & Sachar Committee:
Define
Waqf Property
Replace
the word
‘community’
by
‘Muslim community
of India’
ZFI has found out under RTI Act
Scheme for providing quality
education in Madarsas
[SPQEM]
has not yet been publicized
Despite
Rupees 50 lakh annually granted
to HRD Ministry for SPQEM
publicity.
Government Sector - A
Government Sector - B
Wakf Amendment Bill, 2010
When the line of succession
fails, the income of the waqf shall
be
spent
for
education,
development and welfare of the
community.
5(v).
ZFI’s query to the Ministry of Minority Affairs
Why not replace ‘community’ by
‘Muslim community of India’.
Give us a copy of the explanatory note on this proposed amendment. The word
‘community’ has not been defined in the Act or the Bill. In future, it can lead to
unnecessary litigation.
[This work has been done sitting in USA]
PM’s 15 Point Program for Minorities
Urdu Teachers
(Another ZFI Venture)
Lack of Information
Lack of Publicity
At State Level
Government Orders (GO)
Not Issued
Equal
Opportunities
Commission
Not Yet
Created
Incentives
for
Diversity Index
Not yet instituted
Muslim children not attending school
Waqf Tribunal
Sachar Committee:
Chairman & Members
to be Full Time
JPC:
Give only one year
to decide a case
HARSH MANDAR’s
Centre for Equity Studies,
New Delhi
Promises to Keep
Investigating
Government’s response to
Sachar Committee recommendations
The researchers visited
3 Muslim majority districts:
Darbhanga in Bihar,
24 Parganas in West Bengal
and
Mewat in Haryana
Young Muslim men and women face
Discrimination in Government
Recruitment
Private Sector Appointment of
Muslims is even more dismaying.
Muslim settlements are
systematically deprived
of access to infrastructure and
public services, such as power,
piped water supply and sewerage.
The institutional structures
designed to implement these initiatives –
right from the
Union Ministry of Minority Affairs down to
Implementing Officials in Districts and below –
Lack Conviction, Clout and even a Clear
Mandate
to directly battle the socio-economic
structural discrimination and
denial encountered by the community.
The political valour and vision
that informed the appointment of
Sachar Committee
is not matched
by that required to build an
Appropriate and Adequate
Response to the
Multiple Development Deficits
Suffered by the teeming majority of
Muslims of India.
Political Managers of the Ruling
Combine possibly caution against
providing
grist to the opposition’s charges of
‘minority appeasement’.
They ‘fear’ the political consequences of
the Government being seen as openly
taking sides with a community which is
currently stigmatised as regressive and
violent,
globally and nationally.
The Government has
resorted only to small, poorly
budgeted, almost token
interventions
“In Mewat (80 % Muslim
population)
instead
of
spending MsDP funds to
upgrade
this
school,
government preferred to
spend it on a neighbouring
wealthier
non-Muslim
village. This pattern was
repeated in all the other
districts we visited. “
In Darbhanga,
under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
in 2009-10,
66 new primary schools were
opened, ostensibly for enhancing
access to children from minority
backgrounds.
Curiously, only 7 of those were in
minority concentration areas.
In 24 Parganas only 2.2%
minority BPL households have
been covered by the selfemployment SGSY scheme, and
less that 1% of the households
have actually received bank
credit.
In the year 2010, right up to
November, not a single Muslim
SHG received bank credit.
While the policy effort was to
address Muslim deprivations,
it morphed into one for all
minorities by the time the policy
reached programme stage.
In practice, the programme has
been reduced to an areascheme that misses everyone
Government has to muster the
Will to politically admit the
Cumulative Neglect and
Discrimination
which has held back India’s
largest socio-religious
minority.
Government must create a separate
Budgetary Sub-Plan for
Investment exclusively on
Development Programmes
for Muslims,
like
governments have done for
Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
Diffidence at policy level to
clearly focus on Muslims and
their deprivations
translates into
active reluctance by
implementing agencies on the ground,
to target Muslims and
the drivers of their deprivations,
even in districts with
high Muslim concentrations.
There is complete disconnect
between
minority welfare infrastructure and
Muslim civil society,
and poor efforts by government
to create awareness of schemes and
reach out to beneficiary
groups/Muslim civil society.
There is
Poor Muslim representation in
decisions making bodies.
Suggested Action Plan
Enhance Outlay for Minorities
under
15 Point Programme –
to at least
19% of total plan allocation
Make village and ward
(and not the district)
as units of planning for
infrastructure schemes
Establish ‘Facilitation
Centres’ at
Block and District levels,
Run by Muslim youth,
to act as information
dissemination and guidance
facilities on
schemes and entitlements
The Government should create a
Special Component Plan of
Rs. 25,000 crores;
an Annual Budget of Rs. 15,000 crores
for Modernisation of
Madrasa Educational network and
for opening new educational institutions
for Muslims; and Another Budget
of Rs. 10,000 crores for large scale
skills development programmes,
creation of small enterprises and
other economic opportunities
The burdens of history cannot
be shed in a day.
“But we can surely walk that
path if we walk together”