Want a job in Railways? Apply as a Muslim…

Our honourable Railways Minister Shri Yadav made the headlines again last week with his promise that “priority would be given to Muslims in appointments in all sectors of the Railways.”

Now thats a great statement except I am not at all sure what this means in practice.

Is it that all things being equal they would be preferred over a say, Hindu or Christian candidate?

Or would they be preferred even if they come short on some of the criteria as compared to other candidate(s)? If so, what is the “margin” (or “premium” or level of compensation)?  Would they be given an extra 10% (20%, 30%?) on each criteria for just being followers of Islam? Would they be able to avail of this concession even if they are not “practising” Muslims?

Or would they be guaranteed a job as long as they fulfil all the “necessary” (not necessarily “sufficient”) requirements for the job?

As you can see, we are walking into a minefield here…and no one (least of all Shri Yadav) appears to have given this any thought.

I’m beginning to come around to the view that observed (i.e. empirical data-based) economic backwardness or under-development should probably be the sole criteria for having “quotas” in educational institutions…and I am still not sure that having quotas in jobs is really beneficial or essential (I’m willing to be corrected on this)

In this sense, a poor Muslim girl from Hyderabad should have as much right/access to education as a poor Rajput boy from Rajasthan, as a poor Oraon kid in Orissa, as a poor Brahmin in Mumbai.

In the end, quotas are merely a means and not an end…and the evidence that they actually work is sketchy. We need some creative thinking to address the problem of lack of opportunities…such as this kind of an initiative…

The longer we continue with them and the deeper it gets into the system, the weaker our sense of national identity and unity. When will our esteemed politicians realise this?

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P.S. See also this article by Shri Arif Mohammed Khan: “No quotas, please“.