PMO pushes for more Muslims in govt jobs

Concerned with the meagre representation of minorities, especially Muslims, in recruitment within Central government departments, including public sector undertakings (PSUs), the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), through the department of personnel, is trying to give special consideration to them during the hiring process.

As an effort to improve the minority communities’ recruitment numbers in Central government departments and institutions, the budgetary allocation of the NDA government’s new 15-point programme could witness an enhancement in the forthcoming Union Budget for 2016-17, sources indicated.

The government’s concern has mainly been driven by the paltry number of recruitments of minority communities in Central government ministries, public sector banks, PSUs, railways as well as the postal department over the past few years.

Official sources said that though the government does not maintain any segregated data on recruitment based on religion, the overall numbers are not quite encouraging and this has renewed efforts within the government to renew focus on the issue.

While in 2010-11 the recruitment of minorities was 10 per cent, since then the percentage has only come down. In 2011-12 it slid down to 6.2 per cent, while in 2012-13 it was remained more or less static at 6.8 per cent. There have been marginal improvements in 2013-14 and 2014-15, when the percentage of recruitment of minorities was 7.8 per cent and 8.7 per cent respectively, yet the government is keen improve upon these figures.

Keeping this in mind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the new 15-point programme for the welfare of minorities.

Under this, the minorities affairs ministry is taking forward the multi-sectoral development programme (MSDP) which aims to improve the living standard of minorities by creating socio-economic infrastructure and providing basic amenities.

The NDA government has been in office for the past 19 months, but the aforementioned data of recruitment of minorities covers a major part of the tenure of the previous Congress-led UPA government.

Sources pointed out that an array of reasons, like the absence of any quota for minority community jobs, their greater reliance on traditional mode of religion-based education, poor literacy levels and also lack of availability of suitable candidates for vacant posts, are behind the poor recruitment of the minority communities over the past few years.

Mr Modi’s programme for the welfare of minorities is said to be an improvement of the UPA government’s 15-point programme for minorities, which it had launched in 2005, sources said. The new programme is an overarching programme, which covers schemes being implemented by various Central ministries.