10 years since Sachar Report, here’s a reality check on conditions of Indian Muslims
An analysis of government data show that most indicators have not seen significant improvement in the years since the Sachar Report was submitted.
The Sachar Report, submitted ten years ago, had stressed on intensive work for Indian Muslims’ educational, political and economic empowerment. The Report highlighted a range of disabilities faced by the community and made a slew of recommendations to address the situation. It placed Indian Muslims below Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in backwardness.
However, even ten years later the conditions on the ground have not changed. Here’s a look at the data:
- While the share of Muslims in civil services has improved slightly, from 3% at the time of the Sachar Report to 3.32 per cent as of January 2016, the Muslim share in police service has gone down during this period.
- The report, submitted in November 2006, showed 128 Muslim IPS officers out of a total of 3209, i.e., 4% of the top police cadre. In 2016, only 120 Muslims were selected out of a total of 3754, i.e. their percentage has gone down to 3.19% of the total strength of the IPS cadre.
- In the years both preceding and following the Sachar Report, Muslims continued to have the lowest average monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) among all communities.
- Muslims were 13.43% of India’s population as per the Census of 2001. In 2011, they were 14.2%. The increase of 24.69% in the population of Muslims between the two Censuses was the smallest ever recorded for the community.
(Courtesy: YouTube/Jamaat-e-Islami Hind)
- The work participation rate for Muslim men was 47.5% in 2001. It increased slightly to 49.5% in 2011. For Muslim women, the increase was even smaller, from 14.1% in 2001 to 14.8% in 2011.
- The literacy rate of Muslims in 2001 was 59.1%, in 2011 it went up to 68.5%.
- The sex ratio among Muslims remained better than that of India overall in both 2001 and 2011, and the percentage of Muslims living in urban centres too remained higher than the national average in both Censuses.
(Courtesy: YouTube/Mohamed Ajmal)