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Offering his “mubarak” to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at a press conference, Choudhuri said, “I must offer the CM mubarak (congratulations) for his announcement.” He said the government should take steps to ensure that reservation is effective very soon and should not leave any loopholes in the required legislation.
“I do not think the Left front is politicising the issue. I do not support those who say the CM announced reservations for backward Muslims for political benefits.”
“It should not be a matter of squabble between the Trinamool and the CPM. I would rather request Mamata Banerjee to ensure jobs for Muslims in the Railways. Among 14 lakh railway employees, only 70,000 are Muslims. The number should be doubled immediately,” said Choudhuri.
Meanwhile, the CPM state secretariat today discussed the modalities for implementation of the Ranganath Commission report, which recommended reservation for backward people in minority communities.
Party sources said the West Bengal Minority Commission is already working to identify the Muslim sects backward in respect of socio-economic-educational status. Already, 32 such sects have been identified, but a final decision would be taken by a high-powered committee to be set up by the government, they said. A legislation to this effect is likely to come up in the forthcoming session of the state Assembly, said a source.
“I have gone through the Ranganath Commission report. It has said the state governments can bring a piece of legislation to ensure reservation for the backward people among Muslims, but it should not be on the basis of religion,” said Abdur Rezzak Mollah, state’s land development minister and a member of CPM minority cell.
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It is a shame for CPM leaders to indulge in petty vote bank politics via quota/reservation for Muslims. In a truel secular democracy, a responsible person is not expected to divide the Nation and advocate quota/reservation on the basis of religion. Yes, in our Country we have almost 500 million poor and deprived citizens cutting across religions, and they certainly deserve priority attention for upliftment. The best way will be to identify the regions, not by the religions( fundamentalists and communalists, pl excuse ) viz. Telengana, Bundelkhand, KBK of Oriss, Dandakaranya of 36Grah, Barmer, a part of Vidarbhs, etc . The Government Cantral and State should provide Quality education and Training to the Youth from BPL families, free of charge, even with certain incentives, to educate them and make them employable by dint of their ability, and without Crutches. Parties are not interested in this way of true affirmative action for the deprived section, as they do not gain VOTE BANK.