Mumbai: Samajwadi Party MLA from Bhiwandi East, Rais Shaikh, has urged Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Minority Development Sunetra Pawar to establish a new study group to facilitate the long-pending socio-economic and educational survey of the Muslim community, which has remained stalled for the past 15 years. He has also proposed that the study group be named in honour of the late Ajit Dada Pawar.
In a letter addressed to the Deputy Chief Minister, Shaikh pointed out that the Dr Mehmood ur Rahman Study Group, constituted by the Maharashtra government in 2013, had recommended a comprehensive survey of the Muslim community. He noted that in 2022, the state government entrusted the survey to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and issued a Government Resolution (GR) on 21 September 2022. However, following a change in government, the exercise was never carried out.
Shaikh said a detailed assessment of the Muslim community's socio-economic and educational conditions would provide a realistic picture of its living standards, access to financial assistance, implementation of government welfare schemes, infrastructure, educational opportunities and healthcare facilities.
He argued that such data would enable the government to formulate region-specific policies aimed at bringing Muslims into the mainstream of development. According to Shaikh, no comprehensive study of the community's socio-economic and educational status has been conducted since the publication of the Sachar Committee Report in 2006.
Explaining his proposal to name the study group after the late Ajit Dada Pawar, Shaikh said the veteran Nationalist Congress Party leader had consistently championed issues concerning the Muslim community. He credited Ajit Pawar's initiatives with the establishment of institutions such as the Minority Research and Training Institute (MRTI) and the Minority Commissionerate.
Shaikh further noted that Muslims account for 11.54 per cent of Maharashtra's population, making them the state's second-largest religious community after Hindus. He added that Maharashtra has 56 Muslim-majority towns and said the proposed survey could be conducted through outsourced agencies with limited financial resources and manpower, pointing out that similar surveys had previously been undertaken for several other communities.
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