While opposition parties like the Congress and AIMIM are seeking a separate 5% quota for Muslims in the job and education sectors, figures reveal that even without this reservation, the community accounted for around 6% of admissions to professional courses. This is more than the quantum of quotas earmarked for them by the state's short-lived decision.
While opposition parties like the Congress and AIMIM are seeking a separate 5% quota for Muslims in the job and education sectors, figures reveal that even without this reservation, the community accounted for around 6% of admissions to professional courses. This is more than the quantum of quotas earmarked for them by the state's short-lived decision.
Moreover, around 20% of Muslims have secured admissions through categories under which they are covered at present like SC, ST, OBC, denotified tribes, nomadic tribes and the special backward category, according to the state higher and technical education department's figures.
In the legislature's winter session, the BJP–Shiv Sena-led government had passed a bill for Maratha reservations while not granting similar benefits to Muslims. The ordinance on affirmative action for Muslims lapsed in January and this month, the state issued a government resolution (GR) scrapping the previous quota decision.
A section among Muslims are questioning the logic of granting quotas to a religious community as a whole and point out that a large section of Muslims are already covered under present categories like OBC. According to the Directorate of Technical Education, in 2012-13, of 3,38,310 admissions to professional courses like architecture, B.Pharm, B.Tech, MBA and MCA, 21,646 (or 6.40% of the total) were Muslims. Of these, 4,335 (20.03% of total Muslims admitted) belonged to various categories like SC, ST, OBC, SBC, NT and DT and the remaining 17,311 were from the open category.
In 2014-15, 22,567 Muslims (5.54%) were part of the 4,07,443 admissions to these courses, and 19.87% of Muslim students (4,483) belonged to various quota categories.
The highest number of Muslims who have secured reservation benefits for admissions are OBCs, followed by others like NT-A and NT-B, which covers communities like Chapparband, Naikwadi, Patharwat and Takari. In 2014-15, after the Muslim quota decision was taken, 566 students were admitted to professional courses through this newly-created SBC-A category.
Shabbir Ansari of the All India Muslim OBC Organisation (AIMOBC) said that instead of creating a fresh category of reservations for Muslims, the state should strengthen existing quotas and remove the web of red-tape and delays which makes it difficult for students to get caste certificates and access affirmative action schemes.
Speaking in the assembly on Wednesday, higher and technical education minister Vinod Tawde denied that the government was trying to deny reservation benefits to Muslims. He noted that backward Muslims were already covered under quotas and added that they were opposed reservations just for the sake of politics. Tawade said they were ready for a debate on the issue.
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