New Delhi: Continuing the debate of reservation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the protection of minority interest is in the Constitution.
He also repeated that the Muslims have not had an equal share in the development process.
While the Constitution actually says is that SCs and STs need special provisions for their upliftment, the BJP and the NDA believe that this is PM's own interpretation.
Meanwhile, a lot of debate has been taking place in the Congress. But at the same time, PM’s repeated emphasis on reservations for Muslims comes across as a very calculated move keeping an eye on the upcoming UP polls.
While addressing a Dalit-Minority International Conference, Singh claimed some minorities, including the Jains and Sikhs, had fared relatively well in the process of social and economic development.
He stressed again, that minorities in the Muslim community in certain parts of the country, had not had an equal share of the fruits of development.
Even as absolute poverty may be reduced by growth, inequalities can get sharpened. This can be politically and socially destabilizing. Hence, we have to take steps that reduce social and economic inequalities, without hurting the process of growth and without reducing the incentives for individual enterprise and creativity, he was quoted as saying.
The Prime Minister emphasized that administrative measures the government takes to develop the capabilities of such groups are not the end-all and be-all of positive action against social discrimination and disparities.
Wednesday's meeting was organised by Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and attended among others by former prime ministers V P Singh and Inder Kumar Gujral.
He urged the conference to "pay more attention to finding solutions to a problem rather than merely harp on the problem".
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