Plan of Action on Sachar panel report on Muslims ready

New Delhi, Jan 31 (UNI) The Ministry of Minority Affairs has taken a final view on the implementation of the Sachar Committee report on Muslims and was ready with some interventions in minority concentration areas.

''The Ministry will be going to the Cabinet soon with its plan of action,'' Minorities Affairs Secretary M N Prasadd told UNI.

He said the inter-ministerial consultations were almost complete and one more round of talks would be held in a day or two.

Mr Prasad said the implementation of the report could be done in stages as the issues were large and complex and involved so many ministries and departments.

He also said that the survey of minority concentration areas was also complete.

''We have identified districts across the country which have large number of minorities,'' he said, but refused to name them.

A definite information about the distribution of Muslim population across the country would help in devising more suitable and effective interventions, said Mr Prasad.

When asked whether some Action Taken Report(ATR) would be presented to Parliament, Mr Prasad said one may or may not call it by that name, but by the time Parliament meets for the Budget Session, the government would be ready with some concrete measures to report to it, he said.

Minister for Minorities Affairs A R Antulay has already said the report would be implemented in toto.

The Sachar Committee had been appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look into the social, economic and educational backwardness of Muslims.

The Committee's report had been tabled in the last session of Parliament. Its findings showed that Muslims were lagging behind in education and employment and their status in this respect was close to that of Scheduled Castes. The report recommended urgent action to bring the community at par with other sections of the population.

UNI