Nitish demands SC status for downtrodden among Muslims

Patna,Jan 10 (UNI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today advocated for inclusion of downtrodden Muslims in Scheduled Caste(SC) list and urged the Centre to take initiative in this direction.

Addressing a function, organised here to mark the birth anniversary of former Bihar Assembly Speaker Ghulam Sarwar, Mr Kumar said if ceratin section in Muslims was as educationally and socially backwards as those who were among SCs in Hindus, there was no reason to deny same facilities to that class in minorities.

''During my tenure as MP in Lok Sabha, I had raised the issue and urged the Union Government to take initiative in this regard but nothing concrete has been done so far,'' he recalled.

Referring to the condition of the muslims in Bihar, Mr Kumar said most of them were educationally and socially backward and their lot would immensly improve, once the decision on the issue was taken by the Centre.

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