New Delhi, Dec. 6: The Congress seems to be getting ready to buy the CPM’s proposal that 15 per cent of plan allocations be set aside for the development and welfare of minorities.

The indication that the Congress was mulling over the proposal came late yes-terday when Ahmed Patel, a close aide to party chief Sonia Gandhi, told MPs from minority communities that the suggestion is worth considering.

Patel was summing up the meeting that minority affairs minister A.R. Antulay had called with the 36 MPs to discuss measures for socio-economic development of minorities in the wake of the Sachar committee’s report on the condition of Muslims in India.

As a way forward, the CPM has been demanding that the government earmark 15 per cent of the plan funds for minorities and insisting on targeted and affirmative action just as there are sub-plans for tribals and the Northeast region.

Patel’s statement is the first indication that the Congress, which heads the ruling coalition at the Centre, is seriously considering the proposal of its Marxist ally.

The Prime Minister’s 15-point programme for the welfare of minorities, cleared by the cabinet recently, does provide for earmarking 15 per cent of targets and outlays under various development schemes for the minorities, but it falls short of accepting the proposal put forward by the CPM.

The meeting also saw a division of opinion on reservation for Muslims, with Antulay telling the MPs that quota cannot be the answer to the problems being faced by the community.

Antulay told the MPs his ministry would soon come out with booklets — containing major findings of the Sachar committee — in Urdu and Hindi.

The move is being seen by many as a logical step on the part of the Congress to consolidate the political gains that might accrue from the Sachar exercise, projected by the party as the most exten-sive study to diagnose the problems Muslims in India face.

Sources said the booklets would help reach the Sachar committee’s findings to the Muslim masses.

The meeting with the minority MPs was the first in a series of consultations Antulay has planned before the United Progressive Alliance government decides on a blueprint for the socio-economic development of the minorities.