Why Muslims lag behind in white collar jobs

Among various religious groups, Muslims have the lowest living standard with an average per person, per day expenditure of Rs 32.66, the Times of India has reported quoting a government survey. For Hindus, the figure is Rs 37.50, for Christians Rs 51.43 and for Sikhs Rs 55.30. According to the study by the National Sample Survey Organization the average monthly expenditure for Hindus and Christians were Rs 1,125 and Rs 1,543. In India’s rural areas, Muslim and Hindu expenditure per month was about the same (Rs 833 and Rs 888), while Christians at Rs 1,296 and Sikhs 1,498, were higher. The survey said that average monthly per capita consumption at all-India level was Rs 901 in villages and Rs 1,773 in cities. Overall, the average was Rs 1,128. [caption id=“attachment_985251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Why do Muslims lag behind in while collar jobs? AFP[/caption] In urban areas, Muslims’ average was also the lowest at Rs 1,272 followed by Hindus at Rs 1,797, Christians Rs 2,053 and Sikhs at Rs 2,180. A day before that, the paper reported, quoting the same government survey that unemployment among Muslims is going down. “The unemployment rate for the community declined from 2.3% in 2004-05 to 1.9% in 2009-10 in rural areas and from 4.1% to 3.2% in urban areas. However, a vast majority of Muslims in both rural and urban areas are not part of the organized workforce compared to other religious groups.” In contrast, Hindus had an unemployment rate of 1.5% in rural areas during the five-year period while it fell from 4.4% to 3.4% in urban India. According to data released by the survey, Muslims are mainly engaged in self-employment and as rural labour. In Indian cities and towns, Muslims are at the bottom of the ladder in the ‘regular wage/salaried’ category. Among the major religious groups, members in 30.4% of Muslim households are in regular jobs, followed by Sikhs (35.7%), Hindus (41%) and Christians (43%). In contrast, the proportion of households with major source of earning as self-employment was the highest for Muslims (46%) in urban areas. In villages, Muslims (41%) are the largest group employed as rural labour with another 46.3% in the self-employed category. Majority of households of all religious groups, other than Muslims, belong to the self-employed in agriculture category, the survey found. In rural areas, the proportion of households depending on self-employment was the highest among Sikhs (48%). The community’s major source of earning is self-employment in agriculture (around 36%), followed by Hindus (33%) and Christians (30%). In a _Firstpost_ piece (NSSO data: Why Indian Muslims rely on self-employment) , Rakesh Basant, professor of economics at IIM, Ahmedabad and former member of the Sachar committee which analysed the conditions of Muslims in India, attributed poor education levels to large self employment rates in the community. He said that lack of educational opportunity was responsible: “There are not many good schools in Muslims neighbourhood and that of many marglinalised communities. This is a problem in supply side. Participation in education goes up when supply of educational institutions is addressed.” The website said “At 46 percent, Muslims form the biggest chunk of population in urban areas with self employment as the main source of earning. In contrast, only 30.4 percent Muslims form the urban work force, the lowest in the salaried category among the various communities.” Why was this so? According to Professor Abusaleh Shariff, Centre for Research and Debates in Development policy, New Delhi, one reason was “the bias against the community which stops it from perceiving salaried jobs as a source of earning.” “They do not get jobs as per qualifications, both due of market imperfections and also due to bias in the system. Even in rural area, they do not even get employment under the NREGA,” said Shariff. In my opinion there are two other reasons, more important, that have kept Muslim participation in white collar jobs low. First is caste. A large proportion of Muslims are converts from artisanal and tradesmen communities (like weavers and butchers). These traditional groups among backward castes, whether Muslim or Hindu, have always been poorly educated, whether for lack of access to good schools or an environment at home. The other reason is religion. One of the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad was that he was a businessman. Many Muslims are attracted to running a trade. The Syedna, the head of the Dawoodi Bohra community, has always encouraged Bohras to run businesses instead of serving other people. In this case there is a deliberate rejection of employment. I am always pleased to hear a Muslim name at the other end of a call centre chat, and this might be anecdotal but I feel they are quite well represented at least in this area. It cannot be denied that there is prejudice against Muslims in India. But that by itself is not the reason the community is behind other groups so far as white collar employment goes.