Reservation In Focus After PM Panel's Findings On Minorities, Says Minister

Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar today said the ramifications of a new population study, which, among other things, found the Muslim community growing exponentially, have to be examined from various angles to determine its fallouts. The most crucial aspects would be the question of reservation in education and jobs.  "When one minority community grows, there is a question of how it affects other minority communities, in terms of opportunities," the minister said.

"Is there a risk that the other minority communities, like Parsis and Jains and Buddhists and Sikhs and Christians are crowded out from the benefits and the schemes designed for minorities? From education, from jobs to opportunities?" the minister told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

Then there would be the question of other communities, like Other Backward Classes, which have been denied the same benefits for decades, especially when seen in the contest of the Congress "talking about going against the constitution and giving that same community more reservations," he said.