Kundu panel on state of Muslims seeks extension till June-July

The final report of the Amitabh Kundu committee on the state of Indian Muslims is expected to be given to the next government some time in late June or July.

It has sought an extension of tenure to finalise its recommendations. The report was to have originally come on May 15.

Officials in the know said the report would give a state-wise analysis of how programmes meant for Muslims had benefited them in recent years.

The panel was constituted by the central government to study the implementation of recommendations made by the Sachar committee in 2006 for the welfare of Muslims. An interim report was given some weeks earlier.

Incoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi had claimed the Kundu study had found the 15-point programme for welfare of minorities was best implemented in Gujarat.

"In some parameters like employment generation, and per capita income, Gujarat has done better than other states, while in some others it is not that good, which could be reflected in the final report," said a senior official on the Kundu committee.

Kundu, the chairman, had in an independent research paper based on state-wise National Sample Survey data, said in rural Gujarat, the number of Muslims below the poverty line (BPL) fell from 31 per cent in 2004-05 to only seven per cent in 2011-12; in urban areas, the BPL population declined from 42 per cent to 14.6 per cent over the same period.

In its interim report, the Kundu panel said the overall poverty rate among Muslims in urban areas was twice the national average in 2011-12 and four times that among upper caste Hindus.

It had also said the employment situation among Muslims had not undergone much change vis-a-vis other groups since the government implemented the Sachar committee report in 2006.

In 2011-12, unemployment in educated urban Muslim youth was 18 per cent. In lower educational categories, the unemployment rate was highest among Muslims, followed by scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, the interim report said.

To bring equitable growth among all religions, the committee in the interim report recommended a diversity index-linked resource allocation for all public and private enterprises instead of a separate Muslim quota, said a senior official associated with the committee. The suggestion implies allocating government resources based on percentages of different social groups employed by companies.