No proposal to provide reservation to Anglo-Indians: Centre

NEW DELHI: There is no proposal to provide reservations to the Anglo-Indian community in jobs and educational institutions, the government said in the Parliament on Thursday.

Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told the Lok Sabha that it has no separate data on the economic and social status of Anglo-Indians.

Naqvi was responding to questions posed by Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party MP Talari Rangaiah.

The parliamentarian also asked the minister whether the government is aware that the people belonging to Anglo-Indian community are poor and backward, and sought details of the same.

In response, Naqvi said, “Details of the economic and social status of any community, including the Anglo Indians, are not maintained by this Ministry separately.” The minister further said that meetings with the representatives of Anglo-Indian community are held from time to time and based on the interactions with them, states and Union territories are advised to look into the problems and grievances of the community.

When asked whether the government has made any efforts for the welfare of Anglo-Indian community by supporting them financially, Naqvi said that “all the welfare schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs are available to the members of Anglo-Indian community belonging to the notified minority.”

There are six notified minorities namely Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Muslims, Sikhs and Zoroastrians (Parsis). The Anglo-Indian community emerged when Europeans married Indian women and their descendants from the 16th century. They were recognised by the British by the Act of 1935 and defined in Article 366 (2) of the Indian Constitution. Earlier, the government scrapped the quota for the Anglo-Indian community in the Parliament and some other state assemblies.

The number of people who identified themselves as Anglo-Indian was 296, according to the 2011 census.