Faris Kallayi

Faris Kallayi (FK): You headed a 2016 committee appointed by the Government of Telangana to study the socio-economic and educational conditions of Muslims in the state. You have also co-edited a book ‘Muslims in Telangana: A Discourse on Equity, Development, and Security’ published by Springer in 2021. Can you talk about your work with the Muslim community of Telangana?

G. Sudhir (GS): The state of Telangana was formed in the year 2014. And after the formation of the Telangana state, the state government wanted to take some special measures for the development of the Muslim community. And they wanted to have data to bring out various aspects of the social, educational, and economic conditions of Muslims in the state. Apart from making a study, they also wanted identification or study on what measures should be required to uplift the community and improve their conditions. That was the background for the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry on Muslims of Telangana state. I was appointed as chairman of that commission [comprising four members]. There were two professors who were with us on the commission: Prof Amir Ullah Khan and Prof Abdul Shaban from TISS. The fourth member was a retired lecturer from the state government Mr M.A. Bari. 

So after the appointment of the commission, we evolved a kind of methodology which would be appropriate for the task given to the commission. We also gathered data from official sources like the census, various rounds of sample surveys, organisation reports, family health survey reports, census figures, state reports, and things like that. And also the reports published by various departments, the [erstwhile] AP government, and the state government. We also conducted a large-size sample survey covering the social, educational, and economic conditions of the Muslims of the state. 

Apart from that, we also went around the entire state. At that time, there were ten districts in the state. We had public hearings in each of the ten districts. And took suggestions from the members of the community about the problems which the community is facing and what needs to be done by the state government to improve their conditions. It was a good exercise drawing suggestions from a wide cross-section of society. We four members studied it. And then, the sample survey report was received. We also studied the findings of the sample survey and prepared our report. We submitted the report in August 2016 after one year and three months. 

After that, we continued our studies. We studied various other issues as well and submitted separate reports for that. The commission functioned till July 31, 2019. By then, we had submitted three reports. We prepared a report about the evolution of the system of reservations in different parts of India before independence and after independence also. Our third report was on the representation of Muslims in public employment: government services, aided institutions (that is, universities, schools, and colleges), and also public sector undertakings. 

So, since most of the offices are very much in Hyderabad, we could get the data by contacting those offices. We wrote to them, requested, and gathered the data. It took little time. It was, you know, with facts and figures, actual figures of people in service. And community-wise, there is a breakup — how many OBCs, STs, SCs, and backward classes, and how many Muslims. So that was the work of the commission. 

Our commission was set up in March 2015 and functioned till July 2019. It functioned for four years and four months. The first report was submitted in August 2016. That is the main report of the commission. 

The [state] government passed a bill to increase the percentage of reservations for socially and educationally backward Muslims in the state. That has, of course, not seen the light of day yet. It was referred to the government of India and not accepted. It has been referred to two times. They have not yet accepted it. That is something between the state government and the central government.

FK: What are the major issues that Muslims of Telangana face?

GS: I would like to point out three major problems which the community has faced, and probably it continues to face in large measure now also. One major issue is related to education. While there is enrolment of Muslim children [in educational institutions] compared to all the communities as well, what we found was that the children do not continue their studies for too long. That means there has been a little higher dropout rate amongst Muslim families compared to other sections of society, particularly the girls. That is what we found. 

The girls were dropping out earlier. Boys were continuing for some time. But their representation in, say, colleges or universities was much less. Out of the students studying there, the number of Muslims was less. 

And in the primary education field also, the number of government schools was not enough to cover all these things. They were few. Even in the government schools, there was the problem of less number of students enrolled. Many government schools were on the point of closure. Because of various other pressures, they were not closed off. That may be a reflection of various problems, including the quality of teaching or lack of it. In the private schools, they were getting enrolled but were dropping out after high school. 

Some parents say the reasons are economic. In the case of the boys, sometimes there was a lack of interest to continue higher education. Very often, that was combined with economic compulsions. The parents were not so well off. They can not afford to send their children for higher studies. These kinds of reasons were put forth by the parents when we talked to them. So we had a lot of this in our report and also in some discussions with the government. At that time, they were also speaking of doing something immediately for the benefit of the community. 

The minority residential schools programme [in Telangana] was expanded [following the Commission’s recommendations]. Before the formation of the state, I think there were hardly 10 or 12 minority schools in the state. Now I think more than 200 minority residential schools are there. Education is free in these schools. The number has increased. Enrolment has increased. We also had a lot of discussions by visiting various habitations where the parents were reluctant to send their children to far-off schools. Residential schools gave them more confidence. Since education was free, it was an incentive for the poorer families to send their children. Though they were reluctant initially, as the schools started to open and students started joining, more and more. 

The second important issue that we felt was that since most of the Muslim families were dependent on working in the informal sector — they were self-employed, partly self-employed, working for somebody and things like that — they were not able to grow their business because of lack of credit facilities. They were not able to get a loan easily from the banks. So they had to naturally depend on private sources for their working capital requirements and their loans. And most of [money lenders] will charge very high rates of interest that make their business less profitable. 

The third important issue was that they were having difficulties in housing. They were not getting enough representation in government housing programmes. Though there is officially some order preserving some percentage of the houses to Muslims, it was not happening like that. 

FK: Is there a healthcare issue in Hyderabad and Telangana at large?

GS: Healthcare is a major concern for everybody. Dependence on private or out-of-pocket expenditure is high. Though there are government hospitals and there are insurance schemes, over a period of time, many of the hospitals have stopped giving treatment for the government insurance schemes. Many hospitals are not taking patients with Aarogyasri cards. That is very unfortunate. Similarly, for government employees and pensioners also, there is a separate scheme. There also, [even as] both employees and pensioners have their health cards, they are not able to receive treatment in the hospitals. They have to spend money from their pockets. During Covid, it became a serious issue because very often, more than one person would fall sick in the house. 

I think awareness about health is increasing: point one. And second, the expenditure a family has to incur is also increasing.

FK: Residents say the historic Old City, one of the oldest towns in the region, still depends on a triangle of hospitals built during Nizam’s rule. What went wrong, as per your understanding?

GS: That observation is their personal point of view. Even in the areas that you are looking at, there are a lot of other large government hospitals which I can name. It is like only those three hospitals are there. There are a lot of other hospitals. There is an area hospital in Malakpet. Golconda Hospital is there. Nampally Hospital is there. Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences is there. Then you have Gandhi Hospital. It is a multi-speciality teaching hospital. In Sultan Bazar, Koti, which is not very far from the Old City area, there is a government maternity hospital with three hundred beds. There are lots of other hospitals also. It is not only those three hospitals. There are other government hospitals also. 

FK: According to the data from Helping Hands Foundation, two-thirds of Old City is urban slums — both classified and non-classified. The legal status of at least some slums is complicated. This becomes an excuse for government and municipal bodies to neglect the area. As a consequence, these areas severely lack basic amenities. How does this failure from the state affect the community?

GS: You are referring to slums and other areas. Even in the slums, if you walk around and see the government has laid roads, the government is providing electricity, the government has opened Basti Dawakhanas. All these services are being provided. It is not as if nothing is provided. It is not correct. There, it may not be of the standard of or of the quality which is there in other approved areas. That is a different issue. It could be true. Obviously, it will be like that. But basic services are provided. Water supply, electricity, everything is provided even in the slums. 

This interview was published on 26 April, 2023.