Why were Muslims always kept away from the benefits of reservation?
The Constitution in 1982 specified 15% and 7.5% of vacancies in public sector and government-aided educational institutions for SCs, STs. As per the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order 2008, 84 seats (18.42%) are reserved for SC/Dalits and 47 (8.66%) for ST are provided in Lok Sabha3. And now there is almost a continuous increase of seats for them as a result of delimitation of constituencies combined with reservation benefits- as evident from the following table.
Courtesy:Electoral Statistics by Election Commission of India onhttp://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/current/Electoral%20Statisitics%20Pocket%20Book%202014.pdf
The Constitution in 1982 specified 15% and 7.5% of vacancies in public sector and government-aided educational institutions for SCs, STs. As per the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order 2008, 84 seats (18.42%) are reserved for SC/Dalits and 47 (8.66%) for ST are provided in Lok Sabha3. And now there is almost a continuous increase of seats for them as a result of delimitation of constituencies combined with reservation benefits- as evident from the following table.
Table 1: Showing Seat Distribution in Lok Sabha
| Yr. of Election | Seat reserved for SCs | Seat reserved for STs | Total Seats |
| 1951 | 72 | 26 | 489 |
| 1957 | 76 | 31 | 494 |
| 1962 | 76 | 31 | 494 |
| 1967 | 77 | 37 | 520 |
| 1971 | 76 | 36 | 518 |
| 1977 | 78 | 38 | 542 |
| 1980 | 79 | 41 | 529 |
| 1984-5 | 79 | 41 | 541 |
| 1989 | 78 | 39 | 529 |
| 1991-2 | 79 | 41 | 537 |
| 1996 | 79 | 41 | 543 |
| 1998 | 79 | 41 | 543 |
| 1999 | 79 | 41 | 543 |
| 2004 | 79 | 41 | 543 |
| 2009 | 84 | 47 | 543 |
Courtesy:Electoral Statistics by Election Commission of India onhttp://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/current/Electoral%20Statisitics%20Pocket%20Book%202014.pdf
If Muslims were also included in reservation and given the chance in decision-making and policy-formulation process perhaps their concern would have been taken care of in a much better way, and through schemes and policies their social and economic issues would have been handled better. For that, right after the Sachar report presentation another 73rd-like Constitutional Amendment was needed to be made immediately, through which they could get the chance to be included. Their participation at the lower level politics would have empowered them significantly.
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Posted by: Abu Taha <abutaharahman@yahoo.com>