BaselineBaseline Survey Survey of of Minority Minority Concentration Concentration Districts: An Overview of the Findings Districts: An Overview of the Findings D. Narasimha Reddy* I Introduction It is universally recognized that promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities contribute to the political and social stability of the countries in which they live. India, a country with a long history and heritage, is known for its diversity in matters of religion, language and culture. ‘Unity in diversity’ is an oft-repeated characterization of India as well as a much-cherished aspiration, reflected in the constitutional commitment relating to the equality of citizens and the responsibility of the State to D.preserve, Narasimha protect and assure Reddy the rights of the minorities. Over the years, the process of development in the country did raise questions about the fair share of minorities, and point towards certain groups of them being left behind. “Despite the safeguard provided in the Constitution and the law in force, there persists among the minorities a feeling of inequality and discrimination. In order to preserve secular traditions and to promote National Integration, the Government of India attaches the highest importance to the enforcement of the safeguards provided for the minorities and is of firm view that effective institutional arrangements are urgently required for the enforcement and implementation of all the safeguards provided for the minorities in the Constitution, in the Central and State Laws and in the government policies and administrative schemes enunciated from time to time.” (MHA Resolution Notification No. II-16012/2/77 dated 12.01.1978). For * Visiting Professor, Institute for Human Development, New Delhi. The author is grateful to the ICSSR, New Delhi for assigning him this task. Special thanks are due to the ChairmanIndian Prof. Javeed CouncilAlam and the then for Secretary Social Prof. T.C.A. Science Anant who took Researchkeen interest in the entire project on the survey of the MCDs and the follow up dissemination at the state level. Dr. Ranjit Sinha sustained the interest. This paper owes a great dealNew to Dr. DelhiSanchitta Dutta for her patient coordination and gentle persuasion in the successful completion of this work. Dr. Alakh Sharma with his optimism in getting all the data sorted out and Dr. Balwant with his skills of processing not so easy data, have been of great help at IHD, New Delhi. Still, it falls short of our own expectations for which the author alone is responsible. 1 The above cited resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs paved the way for the establishment of a non-statutory ‘Minorities Commission’ in February 1978. As the years went by, the limitations of the non-statutory authority became evident and it was found wanting in effectively protecting the rights of the minorities. In May 1992, the National Commission on Minorities (NCM) Act was passed and the NCM was established from May 1993 as an autonomous statutory body for the entire country except Jammu and Kashmir. The main functions of the NCM are to evaluate the progress of development of minorities in the Union and states, to monitor safeguards, to make recommendations for effective enforcement of these safeguards, to look into specific complaints regarding deprivation of rights, to initiate studies into problems of minorities etc. Under the NCM Act 1992, five minority communities were notified. According to the Census 2001, the percentage of minorities in the country was about 18.4% of the total population, of which Muslims were 13.4%, Christians 2.3%, Sikhs 1.9%, Buddhists 0.8% and Zoroastrians (Parsis) 0.007%. “In six States the proportion of Muslims to total population is above the national average of 13.4% - Assam (30.9%), West Bengal (25.2%), Kerala (24.6%), Uttar Pradesh (18.55%), Bihar (16.5%) and Jharkhand (13.8%)”. A number of initiatives in the form of schemes and organizations have been initiated by the Union and the state governments to create conditions in which the minorities are assured their constitutional and legal rights and ensure that they are educationally and economically at par with the mainstream. Besides the NCM, these include the National Minorities Development and Financial Corporation, the Prime Minister’s Fifteen Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities, and Minorities Commissions of some State governments.1 Notwithstanding these efforts, especially in the wake of India emerging as a fast growing economy, there has been a widely shared perception that of all the communities, Muslims lagged behind most. As one 1For a discussion of ‘Central Government Schemes and Commissions for Minorities’ see Khalidi (2006, pp. 229-240) and the Annual Reports of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. 2 observer summed up, “Historians, politicians, journalists and others agree that Muslims in general lag behind other communities”. (Khalidi 2006, p. 1) It is in this context that the Prime Minister’s High Level Committee (Sachar Committee) on the Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India was set up in March 2005 with the main objective of assessing the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in the states, regions, districts and blocks that they live in, their livelihood activities, their levels of socio -economic development and their asset base and income levels relative to other groups. The Sachar Committee also looked into the issue of classification of certain Muslim groups into ‘other backward classes’ (OBCs) and their share in total OBC population. The Report of the Committee, submitted in 2006, has become a landmark in documenting the social, economic and educational status of Muslims, based on pooling together extensive information hitherto scattered across different sources. It exploded the myth that there was not adequate data for effectively assessing whether the development process in the country left behind certain communities. Beginning with the perceptions of the Muslim community on identity and security, which capture the pervasive feeling of insecurity, deprivation and discrimination, the Sachar Committee Report (SCR) focused on the issue of equity, and probed the question of whether different socio-economic categories in India have had an equal chance to reap the benefits of development. The main finding of the Report is that the Muslim community exhibited “deficits and deprivation in practically all dimensions of development” (p. 237). The SCR, based on several indicators made an assessment and different communities were placed on a scale of relative levels of socio-economic status. Except for a relatively lower infant mortality rate and better sex-ratio, Muslims rank by and large above Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) but below the Hindu Other Backward Castes (OBCs). The SCR felt strongly that “policies to deal with the relative deprivation of the Muslims in the country should sharply focus on inclusive development and ‘mainstreaming’ of the community while respecting diversity”. The SCR made extensive suggestions and recommendations relating to general and 3 specific policy measures for key areas of intervention, touching upon a range of issues concerning affirmative action, access to credit, access to education, political representation and appropriate institutional arrangements, to overcome not only the deficits and deprivations but also to assuage the feeling among the Muslim community of being neglected. Interestingly, while the SCR’s focus is on the socio-economic and educational status of the Muslim community, the overall approach suggested encompasses all minorities in their diversity, in the pursuit of inclusive development. “…The mechanisms to ensure equity and equality of opportunity to bring about inclusion should be such that diversity is achieved and at the same time the perception of discrimination is eliminated… This is only possible when the importance of Muslims as an intrinsic part of the diverse Indian social mosaic is squarely recognized” (SCR, p. 238). Baseline Survey of Minority Concentration Districts As a follow up to the recommendations of the SCR, the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs initiated a number of measures, one of which is the identification and multisectoral development of minority concentration districts which suffer from deficits in terms of socio- economic aspects or in terms of basic amenities. The Minority Concentration Districts (MCD) project has two components: One is conducting of a baseline survey of the MCD districts, and the other is preparation and implementation of a multisectoral district development plan in each of these districts. The baseline survey is conceived not only as a source of information on basic data for identifying gaps in socio-economic indicators and other specified amenities that would help in the design of multisectoral development plans for the MCDs, but also as the basis for monitoring the progress in overcoming the development deficits in these districts. The task of conducting a baseline survey of MCDs is assigned to the Indian Council of Social Science Research. Districts with Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Parsis as minority concentrations are included by applying certain criteria. The Ministry of Minority 4 Affairs based the selection of MCDs on three criteria, viz.: the share of minority population, religion specific socio -economic indicators and indicators of basic amenities. The