The Bihar government has denied any move to give separate quota in government jobs to Muslims.

Replying to a question raised by RJD MLA Mohammad Nematullah, power minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said his government was neither aware of any move made by late former chief minister Karpoori Thakur to give 3 per cent quota to Pasmanda (weaker sections) Muslims, nor was it aware of quota given to Muslims by any other states.

"For now, we are giving 16 per cent reservation to the Scheduled Castes, 1 per cent quota to Scheduled Tribe, 16 per cent to the Extremely Backward Classes, 12 per cent to Other Backward Classes and additional 3 per cent to women hailing from the OBC category. There is no proposal for separate reservation to Muslims," the minister said.

Nematullah in his question said Karpoori Thakur had introduced 3 per cent quota for Muslims in 1970, which was not being implemented. He said Kerala was giving 12 per cent quota to Muslims. While Tamil Nadu gave 3-5 per cent reservation.

To this, Bijendra replied that Karpoori Thakur was not the chief minister of Bihar in 1970.

"He was the chief minister in 1977. If the MLA has a notification of the reservation he claimed Thakur did, the present government would take a decision on it," he said.

The minister pointed out that a section of Muslims who were socially backward were already getting benefits of reservation in the EBC and SC quota.

Political observers feel that announcing quota for Muslims now would only benefit the BJP, as it would polarise voters. Therefore it has ducked the issue.

The minister in his reply stressed there was a 50 per cent binding in giving quota and hinted that it might run into legal trouble if the state government announces separate quota for Muslims.

Vikramshila land

Education minister Ashok Kumar Choudhary said the Bhagalpur administration was in the process of identifying two to three plots for the proposed Vikramshila University.

After Nalanda University, the Vikramshila University in Bhagalpur was considered an important centre for learning in ancient India. The Centre had announced Rs 50 crore for reviving the university, provided the state government gives 500 acres.

Responding to a question from senior Congress MLA Sadanand Singh, the minister said the district authority has identified a plot for which the acquisition cost would be about Rs 543 crore.

A Rs 50-crore package was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Vikramshila University before the Assembly elections in 2015. So far, the state has not received a single penny from the Centre.

"We are searching for other sites. Once that is done we will approach the Centre on how to move things forward," the minister said.

The Nitish Kumar government has been under fire from the BJP for not providing land for schemes announced by the Centre.

The state government is maintaining that the cost of acquiring land has skyrocketed and the Centre should chip in with more funds.