– Md. Sami Ahmad
Patna, Dec. 21: Akhtarul Iman, lone All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MLA from Amour in Purnia, has claimed that around two lakh Muslims have been denied government jobs in Bihar as per the data of Bihar Caste Survey 2023. Addressing a press conference held here Wednesday, Akhtarul Iman said Muslims and Scheduled Castes are highly under-represented in government jobs.
To avoid further discrimination against Muslims, they should be provided reservation within reservation as Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu have done, he demanded.
AIMIM MLA said the population of Muslims in the state is 2,31,49925 but their representation in government jobs is only 1,73,154. According to him, the justified participation of Muslims in government jobs in the state should be 3,68,886. That is a deficit of around two lakh government jobs.
According to Iman, the total representation of SC should be 4,2701 but there are only 2,9104 SC members in government jobs, which is a deficit of more than 1,11000. Similarly, there are 30164 ST members in government jobs while this number should be around 33,000.
On the other hand, four Hindu upper castes are highly over-represented in government jobs. Proportionate to their population, 47802 Brahmins should be in government jobs but actually they are 1,72,259. There are 1,87,256 Bhumihars in government jobs, while this number should be around 58,000. There are around one lakh more than proportionate Rajputs in government jobs. The number of Rajput government employees should have been 70703 but actually, it is 1,71,933.
The Kayasthas are also over-represented in government jobs by over 40,000. There are over 52,000 Kayasthas in government job while proportionately the number should be 12,296.
In the Backward Class category, Kurmis and Koiries are also over-represented. According to the figure made available by the AIMIM leader, with 1,17,000 in government jobs, Kurmis are also double their justified number.
Baniyas too are over-represented in government jobs. There are more than 59,000 Baniyas in government jobs while their justified number is 47,340.
He said the government as well as public representatives are responsible for this plight of Muslims and SC.
Akhtarul Iman alleged that the responsibility for keeping the Muslims and SC lies with the governments of social justice led by the RJD and its ally Congress, and the ‘Progress with justice’ government led by JD(U) and its former ally BJP. He said the two governments were in power for the last 33 years.
He asserted that the political representation of Muslims is also a matter of concern. He said members of the castes whose population is 14 and 3 percent have become Deputy Chief Minister and Chief Minister but not making any deputy chief minister from the Muslim minority community is proof of the political neglect of the community. He was hinting at Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar, a Kurmi with about 3% population and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav with 14% population.
Akhtarul Iman urged the Muslim and SC communities, and members of social and political organisations to fight against government discrimination for their just representation, which he said was their constitutional right.
He said the communities having more jobs than their proportionate population is proof of their political awareness. He said Muslims lack political awareness which caused their underrepresentation in government jobs.
