Click to play videoNew Delhi: Things are moving ahead following the the Sachar Panel report. Two top Central Paramilitary Forces have said they have increased the intake of Muslim personnel this year, that too by a whopping five times of the average annual recruitment.
This after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's inspiring words spelling out UPA's policy for minority upliftment: "We must take in more and more people from the minority community in the security and intelligence agencies."
The two Central Paramilitary Forces are the Assam Rifles and the Border Security Force.
In a revealing compliance report submitted to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the Home Ministry has informed that between April and September this year, the Assam Rifles has recruited 23 per cent and the BSF 20 per cent from the minority community — an increase from a rough average of four per cent intake in Central Paramilitary Forces.
This means that the intake is a jump of almost 500 per cent at one go and that the Sachar panel's recommendations are being implemented in letter and in spirit.
The whole exercise was initiated early this year when DoPT asked all the ministries to empanel a person from the minority community in the selection board where more than 10 personnel were to be recruited.
Last year, the Sachar Committee could only collect data on 5.2 lakh personnel in the Central Paramilitary Forces, and of these, only about four per cent were found to be Muslims.
However, of the 2,600 recruitments made by the BSF and Assam Rifles in the first half of this financial year, 580 are from the minority community.
Spokesperson for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, S Q R Illyas says, "If these figures are true, then it is a great result. Truly, a positive sign."
A compliance report from other departments is awaited as well, but politically or otherwise, a beginning has been made, especially as the UPA prepares to use the Sachar Committee findings to consolidate Muslim votes before the next General elections.
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