Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday announced reservation in higher education in the state for minorities even as she sought to pat her own back claiming that the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal has done for the minorities what no other government could.

We want youths and children from minority communities to advance in studies and become doctors,engineers and professionals in different other fields, Banerjee said after attending citys largest Eid prayer gathering on Red Road in the heart of Kolkata.

While announcing that the reservation of seats would be introduced from 2014-2015 session,the chief minister tried to portray her government as a champion of the minority communities.

No other government has done anything similar to what we have done for the minorities. We have a budget allocation of 73 per cent for scholarships to those from the minority communities. We have done everything that the Sachar Committee suggested, Banerjee said.

She announced that avenues of business would be made available to the minorities including opening of shops and added that a massive restoration programme of burial grounds was on the cards.

The chief minister claimed that state had a very cordial relation between communities and communal clashes did not happen here.

However,Qazi Fazlur Rahman,who led the Eid namaz at Red Road,was not swayed. He said that most of the promises and assurances made by the government were on paper only.

Muslims are waking up. They will not be appeased by the lollypop,which politicians tend to show to get votes. Something concrete needs to be done for them, Rahman said,adding that during the recently concluded panchayat elections among the dead,70 per cent were Muslims and worked for the TMC.

The TMC has come to power with the help of the blood of Muslims. It is time the government did something for them instead of just making promises.

If she has promised reservation (in higher education) from 2014,lets wait till then and see what happens, he added.

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