LEFT OUT West Bengal Muslims Battle Shrinking Jobs, Socio-Economic Neglect 

Date:

  • State Police Service has only 53 Muslims
  • 20 out of 299 IAS officers are Muslims
  • Eight Muslims among 58 SPs and ASPs
  • 12 Muslims are among 277 IPS officers
  • 9,420 Muslims out of 78,265 MBBS doctors
  • Only 578 Muslims among 7,446 dental doctors

Team Clarion

NEW DELHI – West Bengal, India’s fourth most populous state with Muslims accounting for 28.9 percent of its headcount – the second-highest after Assam, continues to be in a state of utter neglect when it comes to the largest minority community getting its due share in jobs in public domains, including civil administration, police, and judiciary.

Throughout history, the Muslim community in West Bengal has been battling relative socio-economic backwardness. In September 2016, data revealed through a Right to Information Act (RTI) query showed that Muslim participation in the Kolkata Police also had a slight increase to 11.14 percent in 2019 from 9.13 percent in 2008. In 2015, there were only three Muslims recruited out of a total of 134 candidates at the West Bengal Police Directorate. The representation of Muslims in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation slightly increased to 5.2 percent in 2019 from 4.5 percent in 2008, according to a new book, Muslims in India – Ground Realities versus Fake Narratives. 

There were 4.7 percent Muslims (Groups A and B) and 2.1 percent (Groups C and D) in government jobs. Between 2008 and 2016, the representation of Muslims in government jobs in West Bengal saw a marginal increase, rising from 5.19 percent to 6.08 percent. It was reported that out of the total 60,076 recruitments of teachers, the Muslim participation was only 4,625, and where the total recruitment for non-teaching staff was 42,709, only 2038 of them were Muslims.

The country’s 14th largest state in area and sixth largest in economic size has over 31 million Muslims. Bordered by Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is projected to reach Rs18.8 trillion ($227.05 billion) in the 2024-25 financial year.

India’s largest producer of rice, the second-largest tea-producing state, and the fourth biggest state for operational companies has a population density of 2,670 inhabitants per square mile. West Bengal is among five states that accounted for more than 58 percent of India’s total 172.25 million Muslim population in 2011, the year India held its last census. Six out of 10 Muslims in India are located in these five states. Out of about 3000 castes estimated to exist in the country, 779 have been designated as Scheduled Castes and West Bengal stands second in the country with 18.4 million.

West Bengal’s Murshidabad is among the six Lok Sabha constituencies in the country that had the distinction of selecting only Muslim candidates throughout history. Representation of Muslims from West Bengal in the 16th Lok Sabha in 2014 stood at eight with a total of 23 Muslims getting elected as MPs. In 2019, West Bengal sent six Muslims to the Lok Sabha, two less than the previous polls but the most number of parliamentarians from the community in the state. That year, 26 Muslims were elected as MPs in total. In 2024, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has five Muslim MPs. The number of Muslim MLAs in West Bengal between 1952 and 2021 stands at 655 out of a total of 4,855. 

In 1952, it stood at 22 out of the total 250 seats. The highest number of Muslim MLAs was in 2011 when 61 were selected. The second highest numbers were in 2016 at 44 including three Muslim women, also the highest in history. In 2021 when the number of seats stood at 294, 48 Muslims made it to the list. Interestingly, as many as 24 Muslim women had been MLAs in the state’s history. In the first assembly polls in May 1952, 29 Muslims were elected on tickets of different political parties.

Three out of 27 governors of West Bengal had been Muslims, the last being in 1998-1999. No Muslim figures among the 12 West Bengal chief ministers or two deputy chief ministers. Muslims in the current West Bengal Cabinet are seven out of the total 60 including ministers of state (independent charge), and ministers of state). Among the 13 West Bengal Legislative Assembly Speakers, five were Muslims with the last being in the 1977 to 1982 period. The deputy speakers numbered 14 including five Muslims with the last served for a decade since 1977. The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) has no Muslim among the 15 top officials.  

The representation of Muslims in police forces is miserable. Out of 58 SPs and ASPs (IPS), only eight are Muslims. Out of 160 SDPOs and DSPs, 11 are Muslims. Forty are Muslims among the 672 Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors in Law and Order and Crime domains. Fifty-one among 491 State Police Service officials are Muslims. In the State Police Service, 53 officers are Muslims among the total of 543 as per the Civil List 2023. Twelve among 277 IPS officers are Muslims as on the January 2022 Civil List. Twenty out of 299 IAS officers of the West Bengal cadre are Muslims. In the State Administrative Service, West Bengal has 112 Muslims among the 1,646 officers. Interestingly, West Bengal had a total of 299 IAS officers of whom 24 are Muslims. Seventeen out of 295 IPS officials are Muslims while the only one is a Muslim among 105 Indian Forest Service (IFS) officials.

The state, as of mid-2022, has no Muslim among the top nine officials in its Tourism Department and Tourism Development Corporation. The state ranks third in foreign tourist arrivals and eighth in domestic tourist inflows. Muslim officials in the Drug Control and Inspection teams stand at 10 out of the total of 124. No Muslim official is available at the Labour Department. In the Commercial Taxes Department, 60 officials are Muslims out of the total of 969-member management teams. Of the management and inspection teams of the Excise/Prohibition Department, 22 are Muslim including the Collector of Excise, out of 324 officials. In the Public Works Department (PWD), only five are Muslims among 285 officials. Muslim officials in the management team of the Forest Department stand at 34 out of the total 736.  

West Bengal’s two Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) have only five Muslims in their management teams which have a total of 132 officials. Kolkata Metro, India’s first operational rapid transit system since it opened its first stretch in October 1984, has four Muslims among its 201-member management team. A Muslim is the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for the Parliament and Assembly polls out of the 10 officials including additional CEOs and Deputy CEOs. Six of the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are Muslims out of the total 42. 

Three out of 24 DEOs and Deputy DEOs are Muslims. Fifteen are Muslims among the 221 in the Kolkata/Haldia port management teams. No Muslim representation exists in the State Women Commission which had 11 members including the chairperson. In the State Human Rights Commission, only one Muslim is represented (Deputy Registrar) among the 13 which includes Member-Secretary and Registrar.

One Muslim is represented among officials at the State Legal Services Authority while six Muslims are enrolled among 100 lawyers on its panel. In the State Prosecution, four Muslims are among the 29 who work as the Additional AG and Government Pleaders. District Prosecuting Officers number 1039 of which 143 are Muslims. Only one Muslim is a member of the Statutory State Bar Council among the 10.

Between 1947 and 2022, the West Bengal High Court has seen 17 chief justices with no Muslim representation. Out of the 175 judges, only nine had been Muslims. Calcutta is among eight high courts that had not seen a Muslim CJ in its history, along with Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Guwahati, Manipur, Punjab & Haryana, Telangana, and Uttarakhand. There has been no Muslim among the State Lok Ayukta and Upa Lok Ayukta. 

When it comes to district judges, the scenario is no different than other domains. Out of 524 district judges that the West Bengal had seen, only 11 had been Muslims. In Bankura, three were Muslims among the total of 90, the last being in 2010. Birbhum’s 93 had no Muslim at all as had been the case with Paschim Bardman’s two and 103 in South 24 Parganas. Two were Muslims among 38 in Cooch Behar. Darjeeling’s 41 had one Muslim as had been the case with Howrah’s 27. No Muslim had been a judge in the Calcutta Small Causes Court while Malda’s 48 judges had one Muslim. North Dinajpur had three Muslim judges out of a total of 24. Interestingly, seven Muslim women had been district judges in West Bengal’s history.

The health sector too has low Muslim representation. Out of the total 78,265 MBBS doctors between 1960 and 2022, as many as 9/420 were Muslims. Only 578 out of 7.446 dental doctors are Muslims across the state. As many as 213 Ayurveda doctors are Muslims out of the total 2,253. Homeopathy doctors number 7,216 for the Muslim community out of the total 30,725.

None of the 30 West Bengal police chiefs had been a Muslim. A similar case exists when it comes to chief secretaries who numbered 27 since 1950. Out of the 19 chairpersons of the West Bengal Public Service Commission, two had been Muslims, the last being Nurul Haq in 2013 for five years. Seven of the 35 commission members have been Muslims. There had been no Muslim among the 51 advocate-generals in West Bengal. Similarly, no Muslim headed the vigilance and anti-corruption departments while 12 took charge of the post starting in 1988. 

When it comes to the coveted post of mayor, Kolkata has seen 55 mayors, including a Muslim for the first time since Independence when TMC’s stalwart Firhad Hakim won in 2018 and later in 2021. Kolkata is the country’s third-largest metropolitan area. However, no Muslim had been a mayor among the 24 that Asansol, Bidhannagar, Chandernagore, Durgapur, and Howrah had. Siliguri had seen five mayors including one Muslim – Munshi Nurul Islam in 2008.

No Muslim had headed West Bengal Police Academy out of the five officials who headed it. Similarly, the Police Housing and Welfare Corporation has seen 12 chiefs since 1992 with no Muslim representation. No Muslim had headed the State Women Commission out of the five it had since its formation in 1993. Only two Muslims have been its members out of the total of nine. Interestingly, all the 15 chairpersons of the Urdu Academy were Muslims while the same situation stood for its 17 secretaries since it was set up in 1978. All the 30 chairpersons of the Waqf Board had been Muslims as was the case of its 14 Secretaries/CEOs.

As of now, West Bengal’s 22 district collectors have no Muslim while there is one Muslim among the 28 SPs who is posted at Raiganj, a city and the headquarters of the Uttar Dinajpur district. Geographically, the Raiganj Police District is located between Bihar and Bangladesh. Out of a total of 655 district collectors that West Bengal had in its history for its 30 districts, only 18 Muslims occupied the post. Five out of 92 district chiefs in Bankura had been Muslims, the last being in 2009. No Muslims were among the 220 collectors of Alipurduar, Birbhum. Darjeeling, Hooghly, Howrah, Jalpaiguri, Jhargram, West Burdwan, East Medinipur, Purulia, Kalimpong, Kolkata, Baharampur, Kandi, Sundarbans, Bashirhat, Malda, Ichamati, Ranighat, and Murshidabad. 

One Muslim had been among the 55 collectors Nadia district had till now. Also, one Muslim headed the North 24 Parganas district out of the total of 21 collectors. Three were Muslims among the 102 collectors of West Medinipur district including the last being in 2013. No Muslim headed the administration in West Burdman.

Purba Bardhaman had 40 collectors of which one had been a Muslim in 2020-21. South Parganas has seen 18 collectors including three Muslims, the last being in 2015. One of the 22 collectors of Dakshin Dinajpur had been a Muslim, way back in 2005. The same had been the situation of North 24 Parganas district which had seen 22 collectors till now. One of the 41 collectors of Cooch Behar had been a Muslim, way back in 1987. The same had been the number of South Dinajpur which had 22 collectors. 

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Author’s Email Contact – mannan1964@yahoo.com  

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