Lok Sabha Question No. 1859 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-09
Subject: Economic Condition of Muslims
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: KAMLA DEVI PATLE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †1859 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.03.2016

## ECONOMIC CONDITION OF MUSLIMS

## †1859.  SHRIMATI  KAMLA  DEVIPAATLE:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has conducted any survey regarding economic conditions of Muslim community in the country including Chhattisgarh;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (c) if not, whether the Government proposes to conduct any such survey in the near future; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

(a)  to  (d):  The  Government  had  constituted  a  High  Level  Committee  under  the Chairmanship  of  Justice  (Retired)  Rajinder  Sachar  to  gather  data/  information  for preparation of a comprehensive report on the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community of India. The Committee submitted its report (popularly known as Sachar Committee Report) on 17 th November, 2006. The salient findings of this Report are at AnnexureI.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs has not conducted any specific survey recently. However, as per Census 2011 data, Muslim community has shown a Work Participation Rate of 32.6 [Work participation rate (Males)- 49.5; Work participation rate (Females)- 14.8]. As per  the  National  Sample  Survey  Organisation  (NSSO)  survey  (NSS  Report  No.  568: Employment and Unemployment Situation among Major Religious Groups in India), the Labour  Force  Participation  Rate  (LFPR)  is  33.9  while  Worker  Population  Ratio (WPR)  and  Proportion  Unemployed  (PU)  are  32.8  and  1.0  respectively  for Muslims in the country during 2011-12. The State-wise details, along with Chhattisgarh, are at Annexure-II .

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## Annexure-I  referred  to  in  reply  to  parts  (a)  to  (d)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Un-starred Question No. †1859 for 09.03.2016 asked by Shrimati Kamla Devi Paatle regarding 'Economic Condition of Muslims'.

## SALIENT FINDINGS OF THE SACHAR COMMITTEE REPORT, SUBMITTED ON 17 TH NOVEMBER, 2006

- (I) Education:
- (a)  The literacy rate among Muslims was 59.1%, which was below the national average of 64.8%.
- (b)  The mean years of schooling (MYS) is lower compared to the average MYS for all children.
- (c)    25%  of  Muslim  children  in  the  age  of  6  -  14  year  age  group  have  either  never attended school or have dropped out.
- (d)  The majority of Muslim girls and boys fail in their matriculation examination or drop out before that.
- (e)  Less than 4% of Muslims are graduates or diploma holders compared to about 7% of the population aged 20 years and above.
- (f)      There  is  a  strong  desire  and  enthusiasm for education among Muslim women and girls across the board.
- (g)  Schools beyond primary level are few in Muslim localities. Exclusive schools for girls are fewer.
- (h)  Lack of hostel facilities is a limiting factor, especially for girls.
- (i)      Muslim parents are not averse to modern or mainstream education and to sending their  children  to  affordable  Government  schools.  They  do  not  necessarily  prefer  to send children to madarsas. However, the access to government schools for Muslim children is limited.
- (ii) Skill development
- (a)  Skill development initiatives for those who have not completed school education may be  particularly  relevant  for  some  sections  of  Muslims  given  their  occupational structure.
- (b) The  skill  demands  in  the  manufacturing  and  service  sectors  are  changing continuously and youth with middle school education would meet these needs.
- (c)  A rehabilitation package for innovative re-skilling and for upgrading the occupational structure in the wake of liberalization is seen as an urgent need.

## (iii) Employment and economic opportunities:

- (a)  Self-employment is the main source of income of Muslims. They are engaged more in self-employed manufacturing and trade activities compared to others.
- (b)  The share of Muslim workers engaged in street vending is the highest. More than 12 per cent of Muslim male workers are engaged in street vending as compared to the national average of less than 8 per cent.
- (c)   The percentage of women Muslim workers undertaking work within their own homes is much larger at 70 per cent compared to all workers at 51 per cent.
- (d) The share of Muslims in the total workers engaged  in the tobacco and textiles/garment related industries are quite significant.
- (e)   The share of Muslim workers in production related activities and transport equipment operation is much higher at 34%, as against 21% of all workers.
- (f)   More than 16 per cent of Muslims were engaged as sales workers, while the national average was only about 10 per cent.
- (g)  While the participation of Muslim workers is relatively higher in production and sales related occupations, their participation was relatively lower in professional, technical, clerical and to some extent managerial work.
- (h)  Muslims, by and large, are engaged in the unorganized sector of the economy and have to bear the brunt of liberalization.
- (i)      The  participation  of  Muslims  in  regular  salaried  jobs  is  much  less  than  workers  of other socio-religious categories.
- (j)    Muslims  are  relatively  more  vulnerable  in  terms  of  conditions  of  work  as  their concentration in informal sector employment is higher and their job conditions, even among  regular  workers,  are  less  for  Muslims  than  those  of  other  socio-religious communities.
- (k)   Percentage of households availing banking facilities is much lower in villages where the share of Muslim population is high.

## (iv) Poverty and development

- (a)  About 38 % of Muslims in urban areas and 27 % in rural areas live below the poverty level.
- (b)  Muslims are concentrated in locations with poor infrastructure facilities. This affects their access to basic services like education, health facilities, transport, etc.
- (c)    About a third of small  villages with high concentration of Muslims do not have any educational institutions.
- (d)    There  is  a  scarcity  of  medical  facilities  in  larger  villages  with  a  substantial  Muslim concentration. About 40% of large villages with a substantial Muslim concentration do not have any medical facilities.
- (e)  Muslim concentration villages are not well served with pucca roads.
- (f)      Policies  to  deal  with  the  relative  deprivation  of  the  Muslims  in  the  country  should sharply focus on inclusive development and mainstreaming of the community while respecting diversity.

## (v) Social conditions

- (a)  A community-specific factor for low educational achievement is that Muslims do not see education as necessarily translating into formal employment.
- (b)  The  Muslim  population  shows  an  increasingly  better  sex  ratio  compared  with  other socio-religious communities.
- (c)  Infant and childhood mortality among Muslims is slightly lower than the average.
- (d)  There has been a large decline in fertility in all the religious groups including Muslims.

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## Annexure-II  referred  to  in  reply  to  parts  (a)  to  (d)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Un-starred Question No. †1859 for 09.03.2016 asked by Shrimati Kamla Devi Paatle regarding 'Economic Condition of Muslims'.

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Proportion Unemployed (PU) (in per cent) in usual status (ps+ss) for Muslims for each State/UT during 2011-12

| State/UT            | LFPR, WPR &PU(in per cent) for Muslims   | LFPR, WPR &PU(in per cent) for Muslims   | LFPR, WPR &PU(in per cent) for Muslims   |
|---------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
|                     | LFPR                                     | WPR                                      | PU                                       |
| (1)                 | (2)                                      | (3)                                      | (4)                                      |
| Andhra Pradesh      | 37.6                                     | 35.5                                     | 2.1                                      |
| Arunachal Pradesh   | 40.3                                     | 40.0                                     | 0.3                                      |
| Assam               | 31.9                                     | 30.9                                     | 1.0                                      |
| Bihar               | 25.2                                     | 23.7                                     | 1.5                                      |
| Chhattisgarh        | 39.0                                     | 37.1                                     | 1.9                                      |
| Delhi               | 39.2                                     | 35.8                                     | 3.4                                      |
| Goa                 | 32.9                                     | 32.6                                     | 0.2                                      |
| Gujarat             | 36.0                                     | 35.7                                     | 0.3                                      |
| Haryana             | 32.3                                     | 31.2                                     | 1.1                                      |
| Himachal Pradesh    | 49.7                                     | 49.0                                     | 0.8                                      |
| Jammu &Kashmir      | 36.8                                     | 35.2                                     | 1.6                                      |
| Jharkhand           | 32.6                                     | 32.0                                     | 0.6                                      |
| Karnataka           | 39.6                                     | 38.9                                     | 0.7                                      |
| Kerala              | 29.0                                     | 26.6                                     | 2.4                                      |
| Madhya Pradesh      | 31.4                                     | 30.8                                     | 0.6                                      |
| Maharashtra         | 35.8                                     | 35.2                                     | 0.6                                      |
| Manipur             | 30.9                                     | 30.5                                     | 0.3                                      |
| Meghalaya           | 45.2                                     | 45.0                                     | 0.2                                      |
| Mizoram             | 51.6                                     | 51.1                                     | 0.5                                      |
| Nagaland            | 39.4                                     | 35.0                                     | 4.5                                      |
| Odisha              | 39.5                                     | 37.5                                     | 2.0                                      |
| Punjab              | 33.8                                     | 32.6                                     | 1.2                                      |
| Rajasthan           | 36.8                                     | 36.2                                     | 0.6                                      |
| Sikkim              | 55.9                                     | 55.9                                     | 0.0                                      |
| Tamil Nadu          | 35.2                                     | 34.1                                     | 1.1                                      |
| Tripura             | 39.9                                     | 36.5                                     | 3.4                                      |
| Uttarakhand         | 31.8                                     | 31.3                                     | 0.5                                      |
| Uttar Pradesh       | 30.6                                     | 30.0                                     | 0.6                                      |
| West Bengal         | 40.1                                     | 39.0                                     | 1.1                                      |
| A &NIslands         | 29.5                                     | 28.9                                     | 0.6                                      |
| Chandigarh          | 48.5                                     | 48.5                                     | 0.0                                      |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 29.8                                     | 29.8                                     | 0.0                                      |
| Daman &Diu          | 41.8                                     | 41.8                                     | 0.0                                      |
| Lakshadweep         | 38.0                                     | 32.6                                     | 5.5                                      |
| Puducherry          | 31.3                                     | 30.4                                     | 0.8                                      |
| all-India           | 33.9                                     | 32.8                                     | 1.0                                      |

Note: 1.  Telangana  was  not  a  separate  State  during  the  NSSO  survey  periods July 2011-June 2012.

2. for some of the State/ UTs, estimates of LFPR, WPR and PU  may be subject to high sampling error owing to inadequate sample size.