The enquiry commission constituted to determine social, economic and educational status of Muslims in Telangana will have to race against time to complete the task at hand within its stipulated term. As per plans of the commission, not less than 10,000 Muslim households will have to be surveyed to determine their status, even as its term is expected to end by March 2016. Apart from this, the massive stocktaking exercise will also include five or more public hearings to be held in four districts in the State. The commission already conducted hearings in six of the 10 districts.
Petitions
To top it all, the enquiry commission is expected to gather and analyse available research during the given time. Also to be processed will be individual petitions received at the commission from online and offline sources.
“Each of the hearings held in the six districts yielded several voluminous petitions. In some of the districts, including Ranga Reddy and Medak, we had held multiple hearings, and that too yielded a lot of material,” said G. Sudhir, chairman of the commission.
The more the exercise gets massive, the more comprehensive its results, he said. “We are trying to complete the task within the given time frame,” he said. The commission has already asked the Centre for Good Governance, a government surveying body, to conduct the sample survey. “The body has not determined the size of the sample. But it could be more than 10,000 households,” Mr. Sudhir said.
12 p.c. quota
The commission’s finding is expected to determine the fate of the growing demand for 12 per cent reservation for Muslims in the State. Currently, the community is entitled to 4 per cent reservation. Telangana Rashtra Samithi government constituted the commission to determine the status of Muslims almost a year ago with an aim to determine the feasibility of the 12 per cent reservation plan. Meanwhile, community leaders say that the exercise will become fruitful only if the commission’s report becomes as comprehensive as Sachar Committee report.
Legal scrutiny
“The commission will have to come out with a report that reveals the true picture of backwardness within the community. Only this will stand in a court of law,” said Syed Amin Jafri, AIMIM Member of the Legislative Council. Lack of time should not stand in the way of doing a through job, he opined. The commission officers, however, remain confident. “The Centre for Good Governance has the staff strength required to finish the task. We are moving forward at a steady pace,” Mr. Sudhir stressed.
Community leaders say that the exercise will become fruitful only if the report becomes as comprehensive as that of Sachar
