By Dr. Syed Ahmed for TwoCircles.net,
Imphal: A memorandum consisting of the resolutions and
recommendations drawn at the National Seminar on “Opportunities and
Challenges of Muslims in Manipur,” held on 9 December, 2012 at Imphal,
was submitted to the Chief Minister of Manipur, O. Ibobi Singh, by the
Secretary General of All Manipur Muslims (Meitei Pangal) Welfare
Association (AMMPWA), Md. Akhtar Hussain, on 14 January, 2013.
AMMPWA, one of the leading Muslim civil organizations of the State,
had organized the national seminar under the aegis of Manipur State
Minorities Commission (MSMC) to analyze the present status of the
Muslims in the State with special focus on education, economy and
women’s empowerment, and recommend ways and means to improve their lot
to the Government.
Considering the points raised by the learned scholars who had
presented papers at the seminar and by the panelists and the
participants during the panel discussion, the following observations
were made in the panelists’ report:
1. The Muslims in Manipur, socio-economically and educationally the
most backward community in the State, have not been able to fully access
the various opportunities that the Government offers.
2. It was also further pointed out that during pre-independence period
the community did not lag much behind the majority Meiteis, but it’s in
the post-independence period that the community started lagging behind
the others in almost all the spheres.
The panelists attributed the reasons for the backwardness to the following factors:
1. Government policies in the State which concern the Muslims have
been driven by ad-hoc and political requirements, and such policies do
not give thrust towards real development.
2. Ineffective implementation of Government policies and programmes in
Muslim dominated areas. One important reason for this has been the
negligible number of Muslims associated in the implementation process,
apart from the lack of serious attention from the side of the
Government.
3. Weak leadership among Manipuri Muslims for a long period, which in
turn leads to a situation where there has been a void of vision and
drive towards real development of the community.
4. Weak civil society organizations in the Muslim society who could
proactively mobilize the Government machineries for an effective
implementation of the policies and programmes.
The panelists included: Chairperson of MSMC A. Halim Chowdhury IAS
(Retd.), A.R. Khan IAS (Retd.), Abdur Rahman IPS (Retd.), Professor Dr.
S.A. Latif Shah, Professor M.A. Janab Khan, and M.A. Salam Sr. MCS.
The following points were drawn by the panelists in the areas of
education, economy and women’s empowerment for implementation by the
State and Central Government and its stake holders:
General
1. The Manipuri Muslims (Meitei-Pangals) may be declared as Most
Backward Class. Bracketing them with the majority Meiteis is impractical
if their lots are to be improved within a specified span as they cannot
compete with other communities as they are far behind the other
communities. Simple reservation could not help much, as in many areas
the principle of reservation does not apply. Even in the 4% reservation
made by State Government the first point of reservation for them is at
Sl. No. 25 whereas for SC, ST or OBC (Meiteis) these are at much higher
places. The State should have its own formula of reservation so that the
Muslims get positions at least one in first ten, second position within
10-20 and rest below 20th position in the roster. Reservation should
not mean only for proportionate representation but also for upliftment
to make up past deficiencies within a specified period.
2. Reservation of seats for Muslim students in educational institutions;
3. Creation of a Data Bank which will ascertain the deficits of the Muslim community accurately;
4. To place stringent mechanism of inspection and monitoring of the
working of Government officials. Too much laxity has encouraged
concerned authorities to overlook the constitutional obligations of
being public servants, be it officials or public representatives. The
Manipur Public Servants’ Liabilities Act should be implemented in letter
and spirit with special focus on implementations in Muslim dominated
villages, small towns and in pockets of Imphal area.
5. Evaluation of all important Government Intervention Programmes (both
Central and State) implemented in Muslim dominated areas by a reliable
Third Party.
Education
1. Establishment of suitable educational institutions, schools, colleges/technical institutions in Muslim concentrated areas;
2. Establishment of special residential schools (in the model of
Navodaya Vidyalayas) with at least 50% reservation in the admission for
Muslim students;
3. Develop the infrastructures of schools in Muslim inhabited areas;
4. Initiate Total Literacy Programme for Muslims in the State;
5. More educational incentives in the form of scholarships/stipends.
Government may provide sufficient stipends to children from poor
families selected by Gram Sabhas who want to study in local private
schools up to Xth standard till such time as State Government remain
unable to attract the children to Government schools so that drop- outs
may be reduced significantly.
6. Special Coaching Schemes for poor Muslim students from primary to XIIth standard;
7. Restoration of teaching Urdu language as optional subject in the
primary and upper primary level which will work as a great incentive to
reduce drop-out and increase enrolment of Muslim students;
8. Opening of Arabic Studies Centre in Manipur University;
9. Arrangement for participation of civil society organizations in the
management and monitoring of the implementation of Government
intervention programmes like SSA, RMSA, RGBV, etc. by local institutions
to ensure effective implementation;
10. Ensure that the scholarships meant for the poor students reach them
without any delay and wrongdoings. Disciplinary actions may be initiated
against erring officials and school authorities for any foul play.
Economy
1. Place mechanism to monitor implementations of the poverty alleviation programmes in the State;
2. Initiate entrepreneurship development programmes to promote the newly
emerging Muslim entrepreneurs. Agro-based entrepreneurship development
based on new scientific methods could enhance the incomes of farmers to a
great extent. Scope of business and trade in the State after full
implementation of the “Look-East Policy” of Government of India has to
be made aware of to the Muslim Entrepreneurs so that they can take full
advantage of the policy in time.
3. Conduct job-oriented skill development trainings for the unemployed Muslims;
4. Special focus on small-scale economic enterprises, like poultry, pond
fisheries, fish farming, fruit processing, cottage industries, weaving
and handloom industries in the Muslim villages;
5. Introduce Livelihood Mission Projects to uplift the economy of the Muslim BPLs;
6. Enhance the poor Muslims’ access to micro-credits through special
arrangements. Small Muslim traders are availing high interest bearing
capitals from private lenders as they cannot get easy loans from
Government instituted Financing Institutions.
7. Enhance Muslims’ participation in the market-economy by constructing
special market sheds for Muslims at commercially viable areas;
8. Develop the traditional markets (keithels) of Manipuri Muslims at
different places, including the historic Yen Yonpham (Murgi Bazar) of
Khwairamband Bazar, which will encourage Muslim entrepreneurs in joining
the mainstream market economy;
9. State guarantee may be extended for availing economic development
loans by Minorities & OBC Economic Development Society (MOBEDS) from
the NMDFC and NBCDFC for lending to Muslim entrepreneurs. Absence of
State guarantees is the stumbling block in getting any loan from these
corporations. If such guarantees are not possible a ‘pool’ should be
arranged for fund so that MOBEDS could extend loans to Muslim
entrepreneurs as well as to those of other minority communities.
Health
1. Improve the living conditions of the Muslims by providing potable drinking water, sanitation and health facilities;
2. Improve road connectivity of Muslim villages for easy access to health facilities;
3. Intensive Health Awareness Programmes in Muslim concentrated areas;
4. Making the implementation of health schemes like NRHM, RSBY, etc. as
well as the Nutrition Programme like ICDS more effective in Muslim
concentrated areas;
5. Providing Special Health Incentives for the poor Muslim households especially for those where the bread earners are at risk.
Women Empowerment
1. Empowerment is closely related to knowledge which is again related
to literacy. Manipuri Muslims are lagging far behind their other
counterparts in this regard. Only few Muslim females could read books
and newspapers. Thus being less educated Muslim women are least aware of
the useful information that the media offers. State Government should
introduce Special Literacy Programme for Muslim women to give basic
education.
2. Establishing schools and colleges for girls to check high rate of drop-out by Muslim girls;
3. Lilong Haoreibi College, located at the Muslim dominated area of
Lilong, may be upgraded to a Post-Graduate College introducing
vocational education that may be beneficial for Muslim women;
4. Special scholarships/stipends may be provided for girl student from poor families to enable them to complete their education;
5. Economic Development Schemes in cottage and other small-scale
economic activities, like backyard poultry, pond fisheries, weaving,
agro-based food processing, kitchen gardening, etc. may be taken up in
Muslim inhabited areas in large scale.
Copies of the memorandum were also submitted to the Chief Secretary,
Government of Manipur, D.S. Poonia, Minister (Agriculture &
Fisheries) Md. Abdul Nasir, Minister (Health & Family Welfare) T.
Phungzathang Tonsing, Parliamentary Secretary (MOBC & SC, Sc. &
Tech) Md. Amin Shah, Minister (PHED and Labour & Employment) I.
Hemochandra, Minister (Education and CAF & PD) M. Okendro, Union
Minority Affairs Minister, K. Rahman Khan, among others.
A
civil organisation in Manipur Tuesday said if an agreement was entered
with Myanmar government for working together towards curbing cross
border drug smuggling menace during Manipur chief minister’s proposed
visit to Myanmar, the visit would be a meaningful one.
