NEW DELHI : Instead of reservation, Muslims would rather the Government open schools, anganwadis and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in areas dominated by the community to improve access to education.

At the same time, some Muslim MPs and NGOs working within the community were of the view that Scheduled Castes among Muslims should get reservation, as they suffer double discrimination.

This, according to Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development M.A.A. Fatmi, was the sum and substance of his meetings with Muslim MPs and NGOs over the past two days.

Briefing mediapersons, he said there was a view that Article 341 of the Constitution should be used to extend reservation to Scheduled Castes within the community.

Roadmap

However, the Minister said the reservation issue was not discussed in great detail at the meeting, which he had convened as head of the 13-member high-level committee set up by HRD Minister Arjun Singh to draw up a roadmap on the Sachar Committee Report on the Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India.

Some MPs said access of Muslim children to Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas was limited because they had more or less become the exclusive domain of the children of government employees.

With only a small percentage of government employees being Muslims, access of the community to these schools was limited.

No consensus

On setting up a Central Madrasa Board, he said there was no consensus, as the Muslims feared that a unified structure would lead to interference in the functioning of the madrasas.

The report on the demands made by the Muslim MPs and NGOs will be presented on January 10, he said.

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