Madhya Pradesh will give better "relaxations" for Muslims than Maharashtra, the minister said.
Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh will come up with better "relaxations" for Muslims than Maharashtra, state's water resources minister Hukum Singh Karada said on Saturday. His comment came in response to the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government's reported plan to provide five per cent quota to Muslims in educational institutions.
Mr Karada said that the Madhya Pradesh government's agenda for minorities will be ready soon.
"We too are preparing detailed agenda for minorities. You will yourself see in the future that we'll provide relaxation much more than what Maharashtra has announced. I won't be able to say more about what is planned as I'm not authorized to make any declaration, but I can assure that the relaxation would be more than Maharashtra," Mr Karada told reporters.
On Friday, Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik said that the Sena-NCP-Congress government will pass a legislation to extend five per cent reservation to Muslims in educational institutions.
"We will try to give reservation to Muslims in education by the end of this (assembly) session. We will try to give 5 per cent reservation," said the minister from Sharad Pawar's NCP.
However, his cabinet colleague from Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde, later said no such decision had been taken. He said the three constituents of the Maharashtra government will together take a call on it after discussions.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections in 2014, the then Congress-NCP government had issued an Ordinance allowing 16 per cent reservation for Marathas and 5 per cent for Muslims in government-run institutes and jobs.
The decision was later challenged in the high court which struck down the Maratha reservation but allowed 5 per cent reservation for Muslims in education.
The new BJP-Shiv Sena government then brought a law for Maratha reservation but dropped the Muslim quota.