"Introduction"
• As per Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India (GOI), has identified 90 minority concentrated backward districts using eight indicators of socio-economic development and amenities based on 2001 census data.
• Mewat district of Haryana has been identified as one of the Muslim Minority Concentrated Districts that severely lags behind in terms of socio-economic parameters of development
"About Mewat"
• Mewat was carved out as an independent district after dividing Gurgaon and Faridabad on April 4, 2005, three decades after the formation of Haryana state
i.e. on 1st November 1966.
• A little historical background of the cultural region called Mewat , which was later formed into the 20th district of Haryana, will be relevant. The district is mostly inhabited by a numerically preponderant ethnic group called Meo, who are reported to have embraced Islam during the reign of Tuglaq in the 14th Century
A.D. and subsequently during Aurangzeb’s time in 17th century. Earlier they were Kshatrias who traced their origins to Hinduism. Their adherence to the Islamic faith over time blended with their social and cultural life. Thirdly, erstwhile Gurgaon from which Mewat district was carved out, consisted of 61.82 per cent of Hindu and 237.21 per cent of Muslim population (i.e. Meos).
• Mewat region remained backward even after India’s independence and the formation of Haryana state in 1966. The area remained backward even after the agricultural prosperity which that state experienced during green revolution in decades of 1970’s and 1980’s. Paradoxically, the proximity to the national capital made Gurgaon District a new millennium hub as an industrial centre in the 1990’s.
• The areas which were demarcated for Mewat district in 2005 remained agriculturally and industrially backward. It lacked vital infrastructure such as education, health, basic amenities viz. railway links for the development of transport and commerce.
• The newly created Mewat district had total population of 9.93 lakhs. 95.36 per cent of its population is rural and just about 4.64 per cent is urban.
• The population of the minority community, which are the. Muslims, account for
70.9 per cent of the total, with 74.3 per cent of them being rural population. The Muslims living in Mewat district are called Meo. They are listed under the OBC category which means they are recognized as part of the backward class communities.
• The literacy rate recorded in Mewat district was 44.07 per cent. It consisted of
61.53 per cent of literate males as against 24.26 per cent literate females. In comparison to the state average literacy of 68.59 per cent, there was a gap of nearly 24 per cent. The male-female gap in literacy rates within the district was about 37 per cent.
• Only 40 per cent of population constitutes the active workforce. Out of them
44.37 per cent were engaged in cultivation.
• In the district, 88.31 per cent of land falls in the cultivable area, while the net area sown is 76.80.
• Next to agriculture, dairy is the alternate source of their livelihood as 47.79 per cent of people were keeping buffalos.
• The district is also deficient in educational infrastructure. It has 3 colleges and only one polytechnic and 7 ITI/VEI which reveals the precarious situation of educational facilities.
• Primary schools exist in 78.14 per cent of the villages, but there is a short fall of Middle, High School and Senior Secondary Schools which is 9.30, 6.91 & 3.77 per cent respectively. Therefore girls’ formal education suffers from neglect. The girls belonging to Muslim communities prefer to go to Madarsa and not to high schools which are not located in the village.
• The district has poor health infrastructure. The PHC’s cover just 10 per cent of population, while the sub-centres, which lack trained medical professionals, cover 64.71 per cent of population. Therefore, the response to institutional delivery is not encouraging. Due to the lack of qualified medical professionals, quacks have good business in villages.
In view of the aforesaid facts, there has always been a crying need of a University, Medical College and Hospital & Residential Schools in this part of Haryana having about mostly Muslim population mostly below poverty line. To meet this demand of the community the “RIGHT VISION FOUNDATION” wants to establish University, Medical College and Hospital & Residential Schools in Mewat.