“The committee on implementing the reservation is currently working on it and we hope to implement it as soon as possible,” said

Bhattacharjee at a programme organised by the West Bengal Minority Development Finance Commission.

He argued that if Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes can be provided with reservation, why can’t Muslims be provided the same as they are equally backward.

Stressing on the overall minority development, the CM also announced that in 12 districts of the state, Rs 500 crore would be spent as Multi-Sectoral Development Fund for the overall development of minorities. Of the 19 districts in the state, Malda, Murshidabad, North and South Dinajpur, South 24 Parganas are the ones where the percentage of minority population is higher than 25 per cent of the overall population of the district.