... while Buddha creates one

Feb. 8: The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government in West Bengal on Monday announced the reservation of 10 per cent government jobs under the OBC category for Muslims who are socially, economically and educationally backward, as prescribed by the Ranganath Mishra Comm-ission.

The move has apparently been prompted by a desire to woo back the community. In Kerala 99.7 per cent of the Muslim population has been brought under the OBC category. In Bengal, the 12 Muslim sub-groups in the OBC category form about 2.89 per cent of the state’s total Muslim population. The government has now identified 37 more Muslim sub-groups to be included in the category, which, it is estimated, will lift the percentage to eight to nine per cent of the state’s total Muslim population.

Age Correspondents Kolkata