MYSORE: Chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission M. Veerappa Moily has disputed the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda's claim that he was the architect of reservation for Muslims.

At a press conference here on Sunday, Mr. Moily said a separate quota for Muslims in education and local bodies was introduced during his tenure as Karnataka Chief Minister in 1993.

Mr. Moily distributed copies of the Government Order issued on September 17, 1994, providing for 4 per cent reservation for Muslims in professional courses. The reservation was part of the 50 per cent reservation prescribed for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, in accordance with the recommendation of the O. Chinnappa Reddy Commission.

Mr. Moily said: "It was during my tenure as Chief Minister in 1993 that a piece of legislation was enacted on Panchayat Raj bodies and municipalities, which provided mandatory reservation for OBCs, including Muslims."

Already there

Even before Mr. Gowda could assume charge as Chief Minister in December 1994, panchayat elections were held in 1993 on the basis of the provisions of the enactment. "Political reservation for Muslims and OBCs was already in place by the time the Janata Dal Government came to power," Mr. Moily said.

Though elections to panchayats with reservation to Muslims and OBCs were held in 1993 itself, elections to urban local bodies were held after the Janata Dal Government came to power. "But, the law was already in place by then."

Mr. Moily said the former Prime Minister may have been "wrongly briefed" about the factual position.

He said his Government also passed a Bill called "Karnataka Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and Appointment of Posts in the Service Under the State Act) 1994," which provided for 73 per cent reservation. The Act had obtained the assent of the President of India on August 24, 1994.

The succeeding Deve Gowda Government should have moved the Parliament for inclusion of the above Act in the IX schedule of the Constitution. "The H.D. Deve Gowda Government not only failed to secure the inclusion of the Act in the IX schedule as in the case of Tamil Nadu by passing a resolution in the legislature, but also failed to pursue the case before the Supreme Court of India," he said.

Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Rehman Khan, who was the Chairman of Karnataka Minorities Commission during Mr. Moily's regime, said the reservation to Muslims in education and politics came about after the then Government carried out an elaborate socio-economic survey of minorities comprising six communities, including Muslims.

"A total of 65 parameters were used to ascertain the backwardness of Muslims. The survey showed that Muslims were far behind other backward castes in the State," he said.

Mr. Moily said he chose to provide reservation for Muslims in education after the survey showed that the community was worse off than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in education.

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