New Delhi: Nearly one third of Muslims in
the nation survive on less than Rs 550 a month, economic
think tank NCAER said, amid the ongoing debate on reservations
in jobs and educational institutions for those belonging to
the community.
A survey by the National Council for Applied Economic
Research (NCAER) said that three out of every 10 Muslims were
below poverty line and lived on less than Rs 550 a month in
the year 2004-05.
Even among the poor, urban Muslims were better off
compared to those in villages, who survived on Rs 338 a month
during the year under review, NCAER said last week.
The survey comes around the time when the Supreme Court, in
an interim order, has upheld the validity of four percent job
and educational reservation provided to backward members of
Muslim community in Andhra Pradesh.
Also, the report of Ranganath Mishra Commission, which
has suggested reservation for Muslims and other minorities,
and has sought Scheduled Caste status for Dalits who adopted
Islam and Christianity, is awaiting action by the government.
"The Adivasis are the most vulnerable group with nearly
50 percent below the poverty line... (followed by) the Dalits
and Muslims with poverty rates of 32 percent and 31 percent," said the Indian Human Development survey conducted by
the NCAER and University of Maryland of the US.
The survey took the poverty line at Rs 356 per person per
month in rural areas and at Rs 538 in urban areas for 2004-05.
Besides, the survey said Muslims are at the bottom in
terms of rural household income.
However, in the country, Muslim households are slightly
better off than Dalits and Adivasis as a whole.
"Adivasi and Dalit households have the lowest annual
income at Rs 20,000 and Rs 22,800, respectively. The other
backward classes and Muslim households are slightly better
off, with incomes of Rs 26,091 and Rs 28,500," the report
said.
As per the 2001 census, there were 13.8 crore Muslims,
accounting for 13.4 percent of the total population of India.
The survey said Muslims are most likely to generate
income from small family businesses, partly because of
educational differences across the community. It said social
group differences in enrolment are striking.
Dalit, adivasi and Muslim children are far less likely to
enrol in schools and are slightly more likely to drop out than
others, the survey said.
"Consequently, while 94 per cent children from the
forward castes, and 96 per cent from other religious groups
were enrolled at the time of interview, the figures were 83
per cent for dalit children, 77 per cent for adivasi children
and 76 per cent for Muslim children," the survey said.
Overall, more than one-fourth of Indians lives below
poverty line.
"About 25.7 per cent of the population lives below the
poverty line," said the survey, which is based on feedback of
41,000 households. The survey estimates rural poverty at 26.5
per cent and urban poverty at 23.7 per cent.
The incidence of poverty is highest in Chhattisgarh at
63.3 per cent, followed by Jharkhand (49 per cent), Madhya
Pradesh (45.5 per cent) and Orissa (41.3 per cent).
On the other hand, only 3.4 per cent population in
Jammu & Kashmir lives below the poverty line, followed by 4.3
per cent in Himachal Pradesh and 4.9 per cent in Punjab.
PTI
