Muslims in Indian Administration : Towards Inclusion?

Missing Link or Connecting Link
Muslims in Indian Administration : Towards Inclusion

By Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary

The Government system provides a framework for equitable socio economic development and planned growth of any nation state. Participation of various identities, in equitable proportions, in the governance may not be a necessary precondition for such a planned growth and development as well as nation building but equitable outcome is certainly a desired outcome. The Indian administration provides a unique model for securing national integration on one hand and providing a machinery of unbiased persons selected through an open competitive examination and allotted to states for carrying out good governance in unbiased manner and ensuring delivery of services apart from reinforcing accountability of government towards the masses. This has been achieved through creation of three All India Services viz Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Forest Service (IFS), apart from many central services in Group A & B working in the affairs of states and Union. The IAS represents the framework of permanent executive in a democratic set up.
When Lord Cornwallis created Indian Civil Service (ICS) in 1893, it was aptly described as steel pillars of the Government. After more than two centuries the ICS, now IAS, has witnessed a lot of erosion of its powers with separation of executive and judiciary, decentralisation in government, compartmentalisation and so on. But still it wields the real power of decision making in executive. Presence of various communities, religious and linguistic identities in the administration has been an issue of debate since decades. The inclusion of minorities in various services has always been on agenda of successive governments as it provides a platform for articulation of specific needs and ideas as well. Muslims, comprising the largest minority with 13.4 % population have only a 2.96% presence in the IAS which is apparently a cause of concern as it cultivates a sense of marginalisation in the corridors of power and decision making. But if we analyse the trends, the Muslim participation has also show a steady pattern of inclusion across the years. Upon analysis of this trend, one can arrive at lacunas and suggest future measures to be taken to avoid such a feeling of marginalisation in governance and administration.
Muslims: Selections in IAS
An analysis of IAS selections by the Union Public Service Commission in past 20 years reveals a static number of Muslims selected for the coveted service over the years, with peak numbers a couple of times crossing half a dozen.

I II III IV
S.NO YEAR OF ALLOTMENT TOTAL SELECTIONS MUSLIMS
1 2009 119 6
2 2008 111 2
3 2007 89 2
4 2006 87 2
5 2005 90 2
6 2004 88 0
7 2003 71 3
8 2002 59 2
9 2001 58 2
10 2000 55 2
11 1999 51 3
12 1998 55 1
13 1997 76 2
14 1996 78 4
15 1995 79 7
16 1994 78 1
17 1993 86 1
18 1992 76 0
19 1991 102 4
20 1990 101 1
1609 47
Table I: Muslims selected in IAS compared to total selections.
From the table above, the number of Muslims selected for IAS every year ranged from zero to 7 in last 20 batches, from 1990 to 2009 batch. The highest number was registered in 1995 and 2009 batches with respectively 7 and 6 Muslims being appointed in the IAS. In 1992 and 2004 not even a single Muslim could make it to the elite IAS. Out of 1609 selections in past 20 years since 1990 batch, only 47 Muslims could become members of the IAS, which includes 9 Muslim women. Thus, 2.92% is the average selection of Muslims in IAS in last two decades, compared to 2.96% total serving Muslim IAS officers in the country – a slight decline to overall percentage of Muslims in administration.
. The 1995 batch recorded the highest ratio of Muslims to overall number of candidates selected for appointment in IAS, at 8.9%.
Muslim IAS Officers in Indian States
The candidates selected by the UPSC for appointment to IAS are allotted to various cadre states by the Department of Personnel and Training, under the Prime Minister’s office. Twenty eight states and 7 Union Territories of the Indian dominion have been formed into 24 cadres for allocation of All India Services officers. All union territories and states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, NCT Delhi and Goa have been included in one cadre named AGMUT (Arunachal-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories). Likewise Assam and Meghalaya; and Manipur and Tripura are clubbed as joint cadres. There are total 4456 IAS officers serving in all the cadre states as on 01.01.2010, which includes both direct recruits (RR) and those promoted from the state civil services (SCS). An analysis of the IAS composition across cadres reveals that there are 132 Muslim IAS officers out of the total whopping strength of 4500 odd officers of the premier service in India. Further, only 81 of them are RR i.e selected by the UPSC through competitive examination and the rest 51 have been inducted from the state civil services. The State of Jammu and Kashmir is the only Muslim dominated state in country; and has the highest number of Muslims in IAS serving under affairs of state. Out of 92 IAS officers in Jammu and Kashmir, 30 are Muslims – 5 RR and 25 SCS. The number in case of J&K is high because it is the only state where promotion quota for induction in IAS is 50 % of RR while in other states it stands uniformly at 33%. Apart from J&K, all the 23 rest cadres send only 102 IAS officers out of 4364 i.e. 2.34 % share in rest of India.
Table 2: STATE WISE STATISTICS OF MUSLIM IAS OFFICERS COMPARED TO TOTAL STRENGHT OF IAS*
S.NO STATE TOTAL SERVING IAS OFFICERS MUSLIM IAS (TOTAL) MUSLIM IAS
RR SCS**
1. Andhra Pradesh 289 8 6 2
2. AGMUT 224 2 2 0
3. Assam-Meghalaya 203 10 3 7
4. Bihar 209 6 4 2
5. Chhattisgarh 113 3 3 0
6. Gujarat 220 4 3 1
7. Haryana 184 1 1 0
8. Himachal Pradesh 100 2 2 0
9. Jammu & Kashmir 92 30 5 25
10. Jharkhand 98 1 1 0
11. Karnataka 234 12 8 4
12. Kerala 161 6 4 2
13. Madhya Pradesh 300 4 3 1
14. Maharashtra 314 2 2 0
15. Manipur-Tripura 148 8 6 2
16. Nagaland 49 1 1 0
17. Orissa 158 0 0 0
18. Punjab 168 1 1 0
19. Rajasthan 187 1 1 0
20. Sikkim 33 0 0 0
21. Tamil Nadu 280 11 8 3
22. Uttarakhand 88 0 0 0
23. Uttar Pradesh 367 11 11 0
24. West Bengal 237 8 6 2
TOTAL 4456 132 81 51
2.96% : 132 Muslims out of 4456 IAS Officers serving in country
*This is as per actual number of officers serving as on 01.06.2010 and not the sanctioned cadre strength. **Officers inducted into IAS from amongst the State Service Officers.
Some of the major Indian states with huge Muslim population have almost negligible presence of Muslims in the IAS. Uttar Pradesh with a population of more than 17 crores and an IAS cadre strength 367 officers has only 11 Muslims IAS serving in the state, Madhya Pradesh another mega state has 4 Muslims out of 300, Maharashtra has only 2 out of 314, Andhra Pradesh has 8 Muslims out of 289 IAS officers, Karnataka stands still better at 12 out of 234 and Kerala having 6 Muslims out of 161 keeps the percentage high in south India. It is heartening to observe that 3 Cadres out of 24 do not have even a single Muslim IAS officer in state, and 13 Cadres do not have any Muslim SCS officer promoted to IAS- the later reflects low number of Muslims in state administrative services.

Chief Secretaries: Heads of Bureaucracy in States
As on 01.08.2010 there are 40 officers in the country designated as Chief Secretaries. There is one Chief Secretary in state who heads the entire bureaucracy and is usually the top most IAS officer of that cadre state having put in mandatory 30 years of service. But many states have designated multiple chief secretaries in charge of major departments and one chief secretary heads the whole structure e.g. UP has designated 5 top officers as Chief Secretaries while as Rajasthan has 7, rest states have one each. The Union Territories have administrators as heads. Out of present 40 top officers heading states, none is a Muslim. But many Muslims have remained as chief secretaries before.
Muslims: in Top Pay Scale
The highest pay scale of a bureaucrat in the country after the 6th Central Pay Commission has been fixed as Rs 80,000/- plus allowances. Beyond that only Cabinet Secretary, senior most IAS officer of country, has the pay scale of Rs 90,000/ fixed. At present there are 208 officers in the top pay scale of Fixed Rs 80,000/-, out of which only 4 are Muslims i.e 1.92 %. This low percentage is mainly attributed to the prevailing literacy rate among Muslims in 1970s. Since fewer candidates appeared for the examination so number of selections in corresponding batches remained comparatively low.
Muslims: Secretaries to GoI Rank
The Secretary to Government of India is a Civil Servant, having served more than 30 years in IAS and empanelled on seniority basis. Presently, to become Secretary to Government of India, one needs to put in roughly 35 years in service. The Cabinet Secretary is senior most civil servant of the country. Cabinet secretary is appointed from amongst the senior most IAS officers serving as Secretaries to Government of India. The committee of secretaries, having all the Secretaries to Government of India as members and the cabinet secretary as its head, is the most powerful decision making body of the Indian Government. The various secretaries head the departments in ministries and are directly answerable to the minister. In fact, these are the key position holders wielding the real executive power in policy making and decision making in the country. The political executive is supreme and through Parliament the laws and policies are enacted by legislation which is initiated by these top officials under direction of political executive. Presently there are 78 IAS officers working as Secretaries to Government of India, out of which only one officer heading the Border Management Department, Ministry of Home Affairs, is a Muslim. Three other Muslim officers, having the apex scale, are presently eligible for empanelment as Secretary to Government of India.
Muslims: In Top Commissions
The three member Election Commission of India, entrusted with conduct of free and fair elections in world’s largest democracy has one Muslim IAS officer as its member. The National Commission for Minorities, a powerful 5 member Commission, has 2 Muslim members including the Chairman, who has served as Governor of 5 states. The Planning Commission, responsible for pegging the budgets of states and allocating resources, has one Muslim woman among 8 members. The Union Public Service Commission, which is the top most recruiting authority for the Union of India, has one Muslim member out of total 9 members and a Chairman. It is evident that eligible Muslim officers and eminent personalities have found due position in country’s top most bodies and commissions having a major say in the decisions of the Government and responsible for ensuring a fair and just system across the country - free from any discrimination.
Literacy Rate and Share in Administration:-
Literacy has a major role to play in empowerment of minorities but at the same time many other factors are responsible for availing the opportunities in a competitive world -- right information and guidance to youth, socio-economic support, quality education and the like. If we analyse the Muslim literacy rate in relation to their presence in administration at national level, the results vary from quite satisfactory to disappointing. Out of total 132 Muslim IAS officers in country, 39 come from states with highest literacy rate among Muslims. As already mentioned, mere population of a community cannot be a yardstick or claim for having proportional representation in administration, since the selection examinations are competitive and level playing for all, but the analysis below has been done to show that factors other than mere literacy also play a major role in dismal presence of Muslims in Indian administration.

S.No
STATE MUSLIM LITERACY % Muslim Population No. Of IAS Officers from State Muslim IAS Muslim % IAS
1. Kerala 89.0% 15% 139 13 9.35
2. Tamil Nadu 82.9% 12.9% 299 10 3.35
3. Maharashtra 78.1% 16.2% 226 02 0.90
4. Goa 75.4% 15.2% 02 01 50.0
5. Gujarat 73.5% 15.7% 77 01 1.30
6. Madhya Pradesh 70.3% 17.9% 152 03 2.00
7. Karnataka 70.1% 16.1% 152 05 3.30
8. Andhra Pradesh 68.0% 14.9% 282 04 1.42
9. Delhi 66.6% 18.5% 230 00 0.00
10. Tripura 60.9% 18.6% 14 00 0.00
Table: Top 10 states with high Muslim literacy rate and share in IAS selections from state.
Kerala state with 15% Muslim population and 89% Muslim literacy rate has sent 139 IAS officers to Indian administration, serving across the country, out of which 13 i.e 9.35% are Muslims, which is quite impressive compared to all states. Goa stands first in percentage terms as far as Muslims in IAS are concerned, sending one out of total 2 IAS officers from the state. While, Delhi and Tripura, together, having sent 244 IAS officers have not even a single Muslim IAS officer even the Muslim literacy rate is 66.6% and 61% respectively. This is attributed to reported tendency of Muslims in capital towards other professions like private sector, media and business where they are doing excellently well. In states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu where general literacy rate stands very high, the share of Muslims in IAS selected also stands at a comparatively better position. From the table above, where comparison has been done about high Muslim literacy rate and their share in IAS selections from state, it is evident that literacy is not the only measure of ensuring participation in administration. Other factors like participation in competitive examinations, coaching and guidance available to minorities, and state support in this regard are very important factors. Also we find very high share of Muslims in medicine and engineering, which signifies that a majority of talent is pooled to these disciplines also, and hence those competing for administrative positions are comparatively less in most of the states.
Gender and Empowerment: Muslim Women in IAS
At present there are only 13 Muslim women IAS officers serving in the country, out of the total strength of about 4500 serving officers. In past 20 years the ratio women selected in IAS through the Civil Services Examination has varied from 15 to 30 %, with more tendency towards higher end over the years e.g the 2009 batch of IAS comprising of 188 officers which passed out of LBS National Academy of Administration recently, had a total of 32 women IAS officers, out of which 2 were Muslims The share women in IAS is on the rise year after year. Upon analysis of Muslim women selected in IAS over these years it becomes evident that they are not keeping pace with the trend even though many them who are selected for IAS have made it to top ranks.
S.NO YEAR TOTAL SELECTIONS MUSLIM MALES MUSLIM FEMALES
1 2009 119 4 2
2 2008 111 1 1
3 2007 89 1 1
4 2006 87 1 1
5 2005 90 2 0
6 2004 88 0 0
7 2003 71 2 1
8 2002 59 1 1
9 2001 58 1 1
10 2000 55 2 0
11 1999 51 3 0
12 1998 55 1 0
13 1997 76 1 1
14 1996 78 4 0
15 1995 79 7 0
16 1994 78 1 0
17 1993 86 1 0
18 1992 76 0 0
19 1991 102 4 0
20 1990 101 1 0
Table: Muslim women selected in IAS compared to total Muslim selections and overall selections in each year
From the table above, showing data of past 20 years, it appears that in past couple of years the Muslim women equalled Muslim men selected in IAS. But over the years the performance has been disappointing - in 12 out of 20 years no Muslim woman in the country could make it to IAS; but in 6 years Muslim women and men were selected in equal numbers. Further, for years number of Muslim women selected in IAS was same as Muslim males, one each. But the bottom-line still remains that Muslim women , till date, date have not been able to create a niche in the Indian administration, with not more than 15 Muslim women IAS officers serving in the country, out of 4500 odd strength of Indian Administrative Service. They do have sizeable presence in medicine, engineering, education and various technical disciplines but administration still remain an area where Muslim women are still missing. Nevertheless, the Muslim women who made to the top posts in administration are very vocal and articulate, like the women administrators in majority are. More initiatives are required to bring women into administration and that will automatically attract Muslim women as well. The UPSC has taken some encouraging steps in this regard – like exemption of examination fee, encouragement message in advertisements/notifications and the like.

Muslims Share in OTHER Civil Services: Group ‘A & B’ and IFS
In the UPSC conducted annual Civil Services Examination, based on merit and preference, top 80 to 100 candidates are allotted to the Indian Administrative Service depending on the vacancies available as notified by the Central Government. Among the top positions, few also get the coveted Indian Foreign Service – however since the preference for Foreign Service has been on a decline so maximum candidates falling below the IAS cut off line are slated to join it as their second option. The other popular second preference for aspirants is Indian Police Service, but most women prefer Indian Revenue Service than IPS and other. The UPSC prepares the combined merit list as per vacancies referred to it and sends in the list of candidates recommended for appointment to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) which is the final authority on allocation of services- depending on vacancies, categories, preference and merit.
To have a holistic view of presence of Muslims in whole administrative structure, it is necessary to go through their percentage and numbers in all the services – selected on the basis of above mentioned Civil Services Examination at national level.
S.No
YEAR OF SELECTION TOTAL CANDIDATES SELECTED FOR ALL CIVIL SERVICES BY U.P.S.C MUSLIMS MUSLIM (%)
1. 2010 875 21 2.4 %
2. 2009 795 32 4.1 %
3. 2008 734 27 3.7 %
4. 2007 448 17 3.8 %
5. 2006 425 12 2.8 %
6. 2005 422 13 3.1 %
7. 2004 413 13 3.2 %
8. 2003 284 09 3.1 %
9. 2002 417 12 2.9 %
10. 2001 427 14 3.3 %

Last 10 years data shows that Muslim candidates selected for all the services –All India Services (IAS/IPS/IFS), Foreign Service and Central Services; ranged between 3 to 4 %. It crossed 4% mark only in year 2009 with selection of 32 Muslim candidates among selection list of 795 – including 6 in IAS. If we compare the data presented above in Table 1 showing selection of Muslims in IAS and Table -showing all civil services together, it can be concluded that share of Muslims in other central services, every year, is higher than that in the IAS. For all services taken together the percentage of Muslims is pulled up because of the reason that more Muslims find berth in allied services. Since the margin of marks between ranks is very less in this examination, there is scope of improvement and bridging the gap to bring more Muslims into IAS, which will automatically pave way for more minority candidates into the overall selection list.
Indian Forest Service, an All India Service entrusted with protection and management of country’s forest wealth spread over approximately 24% geographical area and including rich biodiversity is unique in its selection procedure. Known as IFS, the service has a separate all India level competitive examination open to science graduates only. The IFS has gained importance and wields more importance now given the issues of environment and climate change, stringent Acts and Rules related to Forests, Wildlife and Environment, the Apex Court Forest Bench and the Court appointed all powerful Central Empowered Committee etc. Moreover the Forest administration is more or less independent of the general administration as far as managing the forest land and wealth is concerned. Number of candidates selected into IFS in past ten years has ranged from meagre 22 to 84 per year – not in a fixed range as the IAS and IPS. Here again, Muslim candidates have not been able to keep the pace and secure berth in the IFS list. The following table reflects the state of affairs as regards selection in IFS is concerned:-

S.No
YEAR OF SELECTION NUMBER OF CANDIDATES SELECTED MUSLIMS IN SELECT LIST MUSLIM SHARE
1. 2010 84 2 2.38
2. 2009 83 1 1.20
3. 2008 40 2 5.00
4. 2007 30 0 0.00
5. 2006 43 1 2.32
6. 2005 30 1 3.33
7. 2004 22 1 4.54
8. 2003 40 1 2.50
9. 2002 35 0 0.00

This again shows dismal performance Muslim candidates and this has remained stagnant over the years.
Conclusion and Discussion
As evident from the discussion above, Muslims have not been able to make their presence quite visible at the level of top administration owing various reasons like preference for medicine and engineering at secondary level, lack of proper coaching and guidance, socio-economic causes, lack of translation of high literacy into employable education and so on. But at the same time there are some positive notes also – more number of Muslim women selected in recent years, gender parity in Muslim selections, increased presence in central services and allied services of the Union, and higher competitiveness. Still the fact remains that despite such a high literacy among Muslims in a dozen states and successive governments’ genuine efforts the Muslims make only 2.96% of the Indian Administrative Service at present. The Prime Minister’s 15-point formula specifically mentions encouragement of minorities for joining central and state services, and many initiatives in this regard have been taken. Thus, it is a call upon educated Muslim youth to avail these opportunities provided by the Government and become a part of the administration at national and state level. Since the recruiting agencies are fare and transparent in selection process, rather there is special encouragement for minorities, the young educated people must come forward with openness to ideas and face the competition without any feeling of prejudice, fear or favour. Only then an INCLUSIVE ADMINISTRATION can become a reality in India.