Congress policies revolutionised lives of poor Muslims: Mohammed Ali Shabbir

Hyderabad: Former Minister, Mohammed Ali Shabbir has claimed that 4 per cent Muslim reservation and the Minority colleges given by the previous Congress regime have revolutionised the lives of thousands of poor Muslims in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing the media at Gandhi Bhavan, Shabbir Ali informed that as many as 934 minority students secured admission in 42 government and private medical colleges this year. This is the highest number of Muslim students getting admission to medical colleges in any State in India. This happened only because of the 4 per cent Muslim reservation introduced by the then Congress government in 2004-05. Further, the previous Congress regime had sanctioned four minority medical colleges - Deccan, Shadan, Ayaan and Dr VRK Women Medical colleges. Those policies have helped in imparting higher education to Muslims, especially the socially and backward sections classified as BC-E, he said.

Shabbir Ali informed that of 6,690 MBBS seats in Telangana for the academic year 2022-23, students belonging to the minority community got 934 seats. Minorities/Muslims got 179 seats in government colleges, 205 in private colleges, and 550 in minority colleges. They include 603 Seats in Category-A (Convener Quota), 209 in Category B (Management Quota) & 122 in Category C (NRI Quota). Of 4,409 seats - Under Category - A, Muslims got 179 seats in 18 government medical colleges, 94 in 20 private colleges, and 330 in Medical Colleges. There are 1,096 seats in Category-B (management quota) in 20 private colleges and minorities got 73. Similarly, there are 479 seats in Category-C in private colleges, and Muslims got 38.

He said Congress always believed in long-term solutions. The Rajinder Sachar Committee, appointed by the then Congress-led UPA Govt in 2006, also pointed out that Muslims lagged in higher education. As a long-term solution, the Congress government introduced schemes that helped in the eradication of poverty and the socio-economic and educational empowerment of weaker sections, including Muslims. The move of giving a 4 per cent quota, led thousands of poor Muslim youth to become doctors and engineers. Today, the number of Muslim doctors and engineers in the two Telugu States must be more than double than the rest of the country.