All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday reiterated his demand that the Telangana government should increase the quantum of reservation for the Muslim community in government jobs as well as the education sector. The state government had earlier passed a bill in the assembly pledging 12% reservation for the community.
“Post the split of Andhra Pradesh, we had a meeting with new Telangana CM & he formed a committee to focus on Muslims’ economic, social, health, employment and poverty matters. The committee visited all districts, filed detailed report & said Muslims should get 9-12% of reservations,” Owaisi said.
He pointed out that despite a proper government panel’s recommendation about the issues of Muslims, nothing much had been undertaken by the KCR-led TRS government in Telangana and demanded a hike in the quantum of reservation.
“We have appealed to the Telangana government to increase the percentage. It is about time that the state government takes a decision on this so that the requirement of Articles 15 & 16 is fulfilled,” Owaisi said.
The AIMIM chief’s demand for a steep hike in the quantum of reservation for the Muslim community came soon after the Maharashtra government on Thursday appointed the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to study the status of Muslims in the state to help bring the community into the mainstream of economic and educational development.
The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government also sanctioned Rs 33.92 lakh for the project to take shape and enable TISS to carry out a study to pinpoint the various problems and issues that need to be sorted to improve the living and educational conditions of Muslims in the state.
In Maharashtra, Muslims constitute nearly 11 per cent of the total population.
