The Action Taken Report (ATR) on the Sachar Committee findings, which was tabled in the Parliament on August 31, 2007 after approval of the Union Cabinet, provides an historic blueprint for all round development of Muslims. It seeks to provide targeted interventions for improvement of basic amenities and employment opportunities in 90 identified Muslim concentration districts across the country, which are backwards on developmental parameters, with appropriate measures to improve the deficiency in civic amenities and economic opportunities in 338 identified towns and cities with a substantial population of Muslims. Strategies to implement these are being worked out by an inter-ministerial task force. Besides, another inter-ministerial group has been constituted to plan and monitor the implementation of a comprehensive scheme for skill and entrepreneurship development among Muslims and for ensuring their easy and smooth access to credit flow. Clusters with substantial presence of Muslims, especially those engaged in artisan activities will get focused attention.
Public sector banks will open more branches in Muslim concentration areas. Financial institutions will promote micro-finance among Muslims, especially women. Public sector banks will monitor the disposal of loan applications for Muslims and maintain reasons for rejections. Reserve Bank of India has been ordered to maintain district wise and bank wise data regarding disposal of applications on its website and the flow of credit to Muslims will be monitored regularly. The data could be accessed under the Right to Information Act as well. In addition, priority sector lending to Muslims will be increased from the present level to 15 per cent under a time bound programme of three years.
A multi-pronged strategy has been set in motion for addressing the educational backwardness of the Muslim community. Accordingly, the outreach of upper primary schools is being expanded for Muslim girls and where necessary with 'girls only' schools. More Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas are being opened in areas with substantial Muslim population. Priority is being given to the opening of secondary and senior secondary schools in areas of Muslim concentration, a special drive to be taken up in districts with a substantial Muslim concentration. Block Institutes of Teacher Education to be established to impart pre-service and in-service training to primary, upper primary and secondary level teachers in such areas. Added to this, additional allocation will be made for opening women's hostels in schools and universities, and Madarsa Modernisation Programme revised to enhance the components eligible for assistance. The mid-day meal scheme will be extended in educationally backward Muslim concentration blocks, the question of equivalence of qualifications of Madarsas for subsequent access to higher education will be addressed.
The ATR has also proposed three scholarship schemes exclusively for the Muslims. A merit-cum-means scholarship scheme for 20,000 students of the minorities has already been approved. The other two , a pre-matric and a post-matric scholarships , will be introduced shortly. Also, a revised coaching and remedial tuition scheme has been approved to improve the employability and academic performance of Muslim students. The Centre has already issued guidelines to the Central public sector enterprises and banks to improve representations of minorities especially Muslims. The corpus of the Maulana Azad Education Foundation is being augmented, its operation expanded and streamlined.
Dissemination of information on health and family welfare will be done in Urdu and regional languages in districts, blocks and towns with substantial Muslim presence.
A comprehensive amendment to the Wakf Act will be effected shortly to address existing deficiencies. A suitable agency would soon assist in the development of Wakf properties for utilization of its augmented income for a better overall development of Muslims.
All personnel like government employees, teachers and health workers would be sensitized to the importance of diversity and social inclusion. Besides, Civil Rights Centres would be opened in universities, beginning with the Central universities. An expert group has been constituted to propose an appropriate diversity index to promote diversity and social inclusion in educational institutions, work places and living spaces. Such index will provide incentives for better representation of Muslims in these three segments.
A High Level Committee has been constituted to review the Delimitation Act to address the concerns of the Sachar Committee to correct distortions in the representations of the Muslims in order to enhance Muslims' participation in the democratic governance.
It has also been decided to set up an Equal Opportunity Commission to look into grievances of Muslims against wide ranging discriminations in education, employment and devolution of economic development. An expert group, headed by the noted legal expert N. Madhavan Menon, has been set up to work out the proposed Commission's structure and functions.
A National Data Bank and an autonomous Assessment and Monitoring Authority will be set up soon to analyse the data so generated and suggest suitable policies to the Government on a continuous basis.
The ATR was preceded by two important measures germane to all round development and integration of Muslims, namely a circular by the Reserve Bank of India enlisting Muslim community in the category of priority prime lending by banks and the other circular by the Union Ministry of Personnel, Training, Administrative Reforms, Public Grievances and Pension asking the States to post Muslim police personnel, teachers and health employees in Muslim concentrated areas in order to instill confidence, self-security and social belonging among them.
For the first time, the Union Government having admitted wide spread discriminations against minorities in 1978, had appointed National Commission for Minorities. But it was a mere tokenism. Indira Gandhi announced 15-Point Programme for the minorities in early 1982, without budgetary allocations and quantifiable benefits. That again remained a mere tokenism. The UPA-Left Government revised the same in June 2006, making the programme quantifiable with attendant budgetary allocation of 15 per cent in the social sector and monitorable at the Union Cabinet and the Prime Minister level at the Centre and the Chief Minister's level in the States by fast tracking development of minorities, generating confidence galore and hope among the Muslims that the measures this time are no longer rhetoric and tokenism, but something concrete, which , if implemented meaningfully, will go a long way in ameliorating the plight of Muslims by ensuring their gainful employment and weaning them ultimately from radicalization and nursing grievances against their continuing deprivation, depravity, injustices and ghettoisation. Let the Muslim community take advantages of the measures to lift themselves from the morass of backwardness by becoming active participants in the forward-looking , secular, prosperous and emerging modern India!