New Delhi, May 21: The Justice Ranganath Mishra Committee on religious and linguistic minorities has recommended a sub-quota for the religious minorities within the 27 per cent reservation in jobs for OBCs.

As an alternative, the four-member panel — which submitted its report to the Prime Minister today — suggested that 15 per cent of all posts in central and state governments should be “earmarked” for minorities.

In either case, it has suggested a specific percentage for Muslims and another for the rest of the minorities.

For example, in case of the sub-quota of 8.4 per cent within the 27 per cent OBC quota, 6 per cent should be for Muslims and 2.4 per cent for the other minorities. Similarly, in the 15 per cent quota, 10 per cent should be for Muslims and the remaining 5 per cent for the rest.

The panel suggested the break-up of the OBC quota in case its recommendation of 15 per cent job reservation found “some insurmountable difficulty” in implementation.

Headed by the former Chief Justice of India, the panel was set up in March 2005 to suggest measures for economic and educational welfare of religious and linguistic minorities. It was also asked to determine the criteria for identifying socially and economically backward sections among these minorities.

The committee wants the Scheduled Caste status extended to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians along with similar deprived sections, if any, among Jains and Parsis.

“Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 — which originally restricted the Scheduled Caste net to the Hindus and later opened it to Sikhs and Buddhists, thus still excluding from its purview the Muslims, Christians, Jains and Parsis, etc — should be wholly deleted by appropriate action so as to completely de-link the Scheduled Caste status from religion,” the report said.

It added that at least 15 per cent seats in all non-minority educational institutions should be earmarked for minorities. Of this, 10 per cent should be exclusively for Muslims and the remaining 5 per cent for the other minorities.

Making some exclusive recommendations for Muslims, the panel suggested that select institutions like Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Milia Islamia should be legally given a special responsibility to promote education at all levels among Muslim students.

It added that all schools and colleges run by Muslims should be provided enhanced aid and other facilities.