SC view on deciding minority community status on state-wise basis solves one problem and creates others

Source: This post is created based on the article “SC view on deciding minority community status on state-wise basis solves one problem and creates others” published in The Times of India on 20^th July 2022.

Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – India Constitution

Context: Supreme Court in its recent observation stated that it is a settled position in law that religious and linguistic minority status is to be decided state-wise. This position settles one issue and raise another.

Under the National Minorities Commission Act, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Buddhists, and Jains have been notified nationally as minority communities.

However, in some states, the listed minorities are the majority. Also, in almost every state, there can be a linguistic minority.

The significance of minority status lies in the fact that it allows significant autonomy to administer the education institutions to minorities.

What are the issues in empowering states to decide the minority status?

First, there are state-wise differences in minority status, like the reservation policy. Every community in the central OBC list is not classified likewise in states.

Second, if minority status is a state decision, would a minority in the central list will lose its minority tag, if it is in majority in a state? Like Sikhs in Punjab or Christians in Mizoram. It will be a big question.

Third, it won’t help in rising in human capital that creates skills for the job market needs. It is because India is witnessing immense competition for scarce education and employment opportunities. Thus, labeling communities as backward or minority has become a political decision.

What should be done?

There are a few reasons behind the demand for minority status tags by educational institutions, like, 1) Overregulation by the regulators like UGC (University Grant Commission), and 2) Excessive demands of laws like the RTE (Right to Education) act. Thus, there should be a focus on providing quality education for all instead of regulating the institutions.