ALL INDIA MUSLIM MAJLIS-E-MUSHAWARAT

D-250, Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-110025 Ph: 26326780 Fax: 26327346

Email: muslim@del3.vsnl.net.in. Web:  www.mushawarat.com

STATEMENT

Supreme Court Order of 29 March, 2007 Opens Door for

Comprehensive Review of Reservation System.

AIMMM Calls upon Government to Fulfill Judicial Requirements

and Collect Essential Data and Formulate a Rational and Scientific Scheme.

Schemes should Cover Measurement of Relative Backwardness of All Distinct Social Groups, Define OBCs and Formulate Methodology to Fix Quotas.

New Delhi,31 March, 2007: Shri Syed Shahabuddin, President of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM), has issued the following Statement:-

The All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) has taken due note of the Interim Order of the Supreme Court on 29 March, 2007 to stay the  implementation of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006, which provides for 27% reservation for  the OBCs and schedule the next hearing in August 2007.

The AIMMM appreciates that the Supreme Court has not, in any case, questioned the principle of reservation for OBC’s in employment or education for raising their economic and educational and, therefore, social status.

            It presumes that whatever the Supreme Court ruling on this Act, it shall not in any way disturb the well established pattern of reservation for OBCs in public employment under the Central and state governments.

            The AIMMM hopes that the interim period between now and August shall be used by the Union Government, firstly, to formulate a precise definition of the term Other Backward Classes in terms of our social demography, secondly, to identify universal and easily accessible social, economic and educational parameters to measure backwardness of the social groups / sub groups, thirdly, to work out a scientific methodology for translating backwardness into reservation quotas and sub quotas, fourthly, to approximate estimates, if exact data are not immediately available, population and levels of backwardness, in terms of the universal parameters of various groups/sub groups and finally to fix the Reservation quota for each group or sub group. Perhaps it will also be necessary for the Government to take a clear stand on a situation, if the total of the sub quotas for all OBCs exceeds the currently permissible limit of 27.5%.

            The AIMMM strongly urges the Union Government and the Supreme Court to include  religious minorities among the OBC’s within the letter and spirit of Article 15(5) of the Constitution and particularly the Muslim community in the light of the finding of the Sachar Committee Report that it is, as a whole, almost as backward as the SC/ST.

            The AIMMM also hopes that since all Hindu high castes include sub castes which are backward or have backward sections, and the Justice Mishra  Commission is engaged in working out ways of uplifting these sections, the Government shall do well also to take its report into consideration.

            The AIMMM has always been, and is, in favour of Caste Census, which may be renamed as Development Census, in order to establish not only the population but also the relative development level of each identifiable and conscious group or sub group in the national community.

The AIMMM advises that the census data collected family wise in the decennial census of 2001 contain material which through proper computerization can yield useful and reliable data on the level of backwardness of every identifiable group and help to determine whether a particular group or sub group should be categorized as OBC and to determine its level of backwardness relative to SC/ST and its due quota.

            The AIMMM is of the view that while the quota is computed for an OBC, the beneficiary should be the backward families in the group. So it welcomes the stand of the Supreme Court on the question of exclusion of Creamy Layer but urges the Supreme Court to lay down a simple definition of the Creamy Layer which should be universally applicable and not vary from state to state according to political exigencies.

The AIMMM also welcomes the Supreme Court’s directive that there should a periodical measurement of backwardness so that the OBCs and sub-groups which have risen above the cutoff line are excluded and the quota for those groups still below it are re- adjusted. This shall gradually lead to the enlargement of the common merit space.

            The AIMMM once again urges the Union Government to do its home work thoroughly so that in August, it is in a position to respond to all the questions raised by the Supreme Court and place before the country a Scheme of Reservation for Backward Classes which is not ad hoc but scientific.

Sd/ Syed Shahabuddin

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Authorized for Publication:

New Delhi,                                                                (Abdul Waheed)

31 March, 2007                                                   Office Secretary