MUMBAI: A committee appointed by the state government has recommended quotas for Muslims in government jobs, educational institutes and state housing schemes. The seven-member panel headed by retired IAS officer Mehmood-ur-Rehman examined issues facing Muslims in the state.

A 6% to 7% reservation in government jobs and educational institutes and an equal percentage stake in all state housing schemes to curb ghettoization. These are some of the many recommendations made by a seven-member committee under retired IAS officer Mehmood-ur-rehman to look into the issues Muslims minority are facing in the state.

Five years after it was appointed, the committee will submit its report next week, which the government is likely to make public, if not implement,

with an eye on the state elections in 2014. The committee comprised retired IAS, IPS officers and as members as well as

professors from other reputed institutes such as Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)

. However, Muslim scholars are calling this is yet another election gimmick of the state government as such a quota is impossible to accommodate in the existing system constitutionally. "Reservations given on the basis of religion will not stand legal scrutiny. Courts are definitely going to quash this for sure. The government of the day knows it and only throws it up every now and then before the elections," said educationist and author Mubarak Kapdi.

The state government has in the past faced criticism for not doing enough for Muslims minority , including doling out reservations on the lines of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. However, in at least one of these two states the courts had struck down a 4.5% sub-quota for minorities, holding that reservations can't be based purely on religious grounds.

The judgment was challenged by the government in the Supreme Court. "The committee chairman met me and assured that the report will be submitted next week with recommendations for educational, social and economical upliftment of minorities. Thereafter, it is for the government to take a call on it," said Maharashtra minority minister Naseem Khan. Maharashtra's population comprises nearly 10% Muslims in its total population but has no quota for them. So far their representation in the Maharashtra Public Service Commission , civil and police services is limited to less than 2% in Maharashtra . But experts and scholars believe this could change with a systematic induction of quotas in jobs, services and education. The demand for a quota has been gaining momentum with Muslim associations organizing in the past "walks" from Malegaon to Mumbai demanding a 20% reservation for Muslim minority .

"This is not the first time the government has set up a committee on minority reservation. However, if ever implemented, then this could have a marked improvement in the way Muslims are represented in public sector," said an official.

