JOIN USMinority scholarship issue puts LDF-led Kerala government in tight spot
Putting the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala in a tight spot, prominent Muslim outfits in the state, including those backing the left front, have raised objections against the new formula of the state government on scholarship for students of minority communities.
After the Kerala High Court scrapped the 80:20 ratio being followed by the state government among Muslim and backward classes among the Christian community for the scholarship, the state government decided to restructure the ratio based on the 2011 census—26.56 per cent Muslim community and 18.38 per cent Christian community.
Even as the state government assured that it will ensure that the existing number of scholarships being received by the Muslim community would not be affected when implementing the new ratio, the Muslim outfits have raised apprehensions. They continue to demand a higher proportion for the Muslim community on the basis of the Sachar Committee considering the backwardness of the Muslim community. The government is handling it with the utmost sensitivity.
While the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and some Muslim outfits formed an action council for joint stir demanding adequate share for the community, Sunni leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar called on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday and urged that the Muslims should be given 80 per cent share of the scholarship. He later told reporters that the faction would initiate legal measures if required, but was not for a stir against the government.
As many as 12 Muslim factions including the Indian Union Muslim League decided to form the action committee to press for a scholarship based on Sachar Committee. A demonstration would be staged in front of the government secretariat on August 3. The Muslim outfits flayed that the government was trying to frame their protests as an attempt to create a communal divide.