Sachar Committee Report : a Review Mainstream Weekly

Mainstream Weekly VOL XLV No 01 Sachar Committee Report : A Review Tuesday 24 April 2007, by Anees Chishti The report of the High-Level Committee appointed by the Prime Minister under the chairmanship of Justice Rajindar Sachar, retired Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, to study the ‘Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India’, has been a subject of wide discussion in the press, among parliamentarians and other politicians as well as in other informed sections of the society. The seven-member Committee had as its members eminent personalities like Sayid Hamid, former Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and currently Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, Prof T.K. Oommen, former Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University and a sociologist of world renown, among others. Dr. Abusaleh Shariff, Chief Economist, National Council of Applied Economic Research, who is noted for his perceptive research on various issues of national concern, was the Member-Secretary. There was no woman member: surprising, as the condition of women is very important for any survey of the social scenario among the Muslims. And, the Committee has tried to look at the predicament of the Muslim women in as good a manner as it could. The Committee had several consultants from different disciplines and had commissioned specialists on various aspects of the subject under coverage to write papers for its use in its study of the complex issues. The Committee collected data from the various Censuses, the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), banks and, of course, from the Central and State Governments. The members of the Committee visited different parts of the country to assess the grassroots situation and grasp the realities by experience rather than merely with the help of statistics brought to their desks by investigators. The Committee tried to sift the perception of members of the Muslim community (as well as of non-Muslims) and understand the nature and magnitude of the community’s grievances, to be able to judge the veracity or otherwise of the expressions of negligence and deprivation. Most of the grievances of the community are common knowledge and those who have access to the Urdu press in different parts of the country are fully aware of the endless stories of ‘woes’ and ‘miseries’ of the community. But a systematic study of these grievances had to be made and the Sachar Committee ventured to do that. We shall deal with the grievances briefly later but, first, a review of the findings of the Sachar Committee in different areas of its concern. II It would be appropriate to begin a survey of the Sachar Committee’s findings with the fundamental issue of education. The literacy rate for Muslims in 2001 was, according to the Committee’s findings, far below the national average. The difference between the two rates was greater in urban areas than in rural areas. For women, too, the gap was greater in the urban areas. When compared to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes the growth in literacy for Muslims was lower than for the former. The female urban enrolment in literacy ratio for the SCs/STs was 40 per cent in 1965 that rose to 83 per cent in 2001. The equivalent rate for Muslims—that was considerably higher in 1965 (52 per cent)—recorded a figure of 80 per cent, lower than the figure for the SCs / STs. According to the Sachar Committee’s findings, 25 per cent of Muslim children in the 6-14 age- group either never went to school or else dropped out at some stage. The disparity in Graduate Attainment Rates between Muslims and other categories has been widening since the 1970s in urban and rural areas. According to the Sachar Committee, only one out of 25 undergraduate students and one out of 50 post-graduate students in ‘premier colleges’ are Muslims. The percentage of graduates in poor households pursuing post-graduate studies is significantly lower for Muslims: Hindus General (29 per cent); SCs/STs (28 per cent); OBCs (23 per cent); Muslims (16 per cent). The unemployment rate among Muslim graduates is the highest among all Socio-Religious Categories (SRCs), poor as well as non-poor. In the midst of the widespread discussion about the role of madrasas in the life of Muslims, it is interesting to note that only three per cent of Muslim children go to madrasas. Some figures of the Committee are very revealing, when the situation of OBCs is considered. In education upto matriculation, graduation and employment in the formal sector all OBCs lag behind in terms of the all-India average. Muslim OBCs (that have been defined here a little later) fall below the Hindu OBCs in all categories. And, General Muslims fare the worst being behind both Hindu and Muslim OBCs. An important cause for the low level of attainment of Muslims in education is the dearth of facilities for teaching Urdu and other subjects through the medium of Urdu (mother tongue) in lower classes, the Committee points out. It cites the better examples of Karnataka and Maharashtra in this context. These two States are much better equipped with Urdu medium schools at the elementary level. Karnataka has the additional feature of concurrent facilities for English medium as well in a good number of schools, the Committee points out. In an indirect reference to the utility of reservation, the Committee says that the SCs/STs have reaped advantages of targeted government and private efforts thereby pinpointing the importance of ‘affirmative action’. Employment According to the findings of the Sachar Committee, Muslims have a considerably lower representation in jobs in the government including those in the Public Sector Undertakings compared to other SRCs. According to these findings, in no State of the country the level of Muslim employment is proportionate to their percentage in the population. It is pointed out that the situation of government jobs is the best in Andhra Pradesh where a “fairly close” representation (in proportion to the population) has been achieved. Other States with a better picture of representation are: Karnataka (8.5 per cent job share in a population proportion of 12.2 per cent); Gujarat (5.4 per cent against 9.1 per cent); Tamil Nadu (3.2 per cent against 5.6 per cent). According to an analysis, in all other States, the percentage of Muslims in government employment is half of their population proportion. The highest percentage figure of government employment for Muslims is in Assam (11.2 per cent) even though it is far less than the State’s Muslim population (30.9 per cent). The most glaring cases of Muslims’ deprivation in government jobs are found in the States of West Bengal and Kerala where, according to common perception, egalitarianism has been the cherished norm in all walks of life. In West Bengal where almost 25 per cent population practises the Muslim faith, their share in government jobs is a paltry 4.2 per cent. In Kerala the Muslim representation in government jobs is 10.4 per cent, a figure that is short of half of their population percentage. In Bihar and UP the percentages of Muslims in government jobs are found to be less than a third of their population percentages. Those governing these States need to monitor their actions to bring the situation in conformity with their professed objectives and claims. There are some factors that need to be considered in view of the low employment figures for Muslims on an all-India basis. The Sachar Committee observes that the low aggregate work participation ratios for Muslims are ‘essentially’ due to the much lower participation in economic activity by the women of the community. Also, a large number of Muslim women who are engaged in work do so from their homes rather than in offices or factories. Their figure in this regard is 70 per cent compared to the general figure of 51 per cent There is a high share of Muslim workers in self-employment activity, especially in urban areas and in the case of women, the Committee points out. Whether this trend is due to compulsion or their non-expectation for jobs in the government or non-government formal sector, or due to their inclination for certain types of work that are done best under a self-employment scheme, would be an important subject for study. The fact has to be considered that Muslims in regular jobs in urban areas are much lower in numbers compared to even the SCs/STs. And, surprisingly, the Muslim regular workers get lower daily earnings (salary) in public and private jobs compared to other socio-religious categories, as the Committee points out. The point that needs special notice is that, according to the Committee’s findings, Muslim participation in professional and management cadres is quite low. Their participation in security- related activities (for example, in the Police services) is considerably lower than their population share (four per cent overall). In the context of employment of Muslims at the level of the Central Government, the Committee’s findings are very revealing. In the Civil Services, Muslims are only three per cent in IAS, 1.8 per cent in IFS and four per cent in IPS. (While the figures are shockingly low compared to the population percentage, the fact also needs to be considered that there were only 4.7 per cent Muslims among the candidates at the Civil Services examinations in 2003-04. The figure would be almost identical for other years.) In the Railways, 4.5 per cent are Muslims and, significantly, ‘almost all’ (98.7 per cent) are in low level positions.

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