The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh has announced a five per cent quota for Muslims in educational institutions and government jobs in the state.
The community has been included into the backward classes for this purpose.
The reservations will come into force with immediate effect.
With this, the Congress government has fulfilled a key promise made to the minorities in its manifesto for the recent assembly election.
The government order is likely to be given statutory backing through enactment of a Bill in the budget session of the assembly.
Government sources said the reservations were announced based on an in-depth study of the socio-economic condition of the Muslim community conducted by the Commissionerate of Minorities Welfare. The study focused mainly on the living conditions, occupational profile, income and literacy levels of the community.
As per the 1991 census, the population of minorities in the state is 72 lakh, or 11 percent of the total population. Muslims account for 8.5 per cent of the state's population.
The CMW study revealed that around two-thirds of the Muslims in the state live below the poverty line and another 16 per cent have annual incomes below Rs 44,000.
The literacy rate among the Muslims is only 18 per cent as per the 1991 census. It falls further to 4 per cent among Muslim women.
The study revealed that a majority of Muslims are engaged in petty businesses like running pan shops or tea stalls, selling fruits or flowers or working as labourers in engineering workshops.
The community in the rural parts of the state comprises mainly artisans.
Both the Congress and Telugu Desam had promised reservations for Muslims on the eve of the assembly election. The then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had offered 3 per cent quota to the community if his party returned to power in the state.
The Congress, on the other hand, had promised 5 per cent.
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