Welfare of Minorities, specially of the underprivileged section of them, has been put high on the agenda of the UPA Government ever since it adopted ‘inclusive growth’ as its guiding principle of governance. Otherwise too, in every meaningful democracy, it’s the duty of the state, and as a corollary, responsibility of the majority community to ensure the welfare of minorities so that all sections of the society feel proud to be part of the democratic setup and thus contribute their best to the development of the nation. Specially in our historical context: where all communities and sections of people had marched shoulder to shoulder and laid down their lives in the War of Independence, the concept of ‘Inclusive Growth’ becomes sine qua non for the roadmap of development and progress. It was in this context that the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, had appointed in March 2005 a High Level Committee under the Chairmanship of Justice Rajindar Sachar to prepare a report on social, economic and educational status of the Muslim Community of India. This study was necessary because till then there was no authentic information on the social, economic and educational backwardness of this community, thereby hampering proper formulation and implementation of specific policies, interventions and programmes to address the issues relating to its socio-economic backwardness. This 7-member High Level Committee, popularly known as Sachar Committee, gave its report in November 2006 – and it clearly found that the Muslim community was really “seriously lagging behind in terms of most of the human development indicators.”

The Government immediately sensed the gravity of the problem and started working on the follow-up action in right earnest. Of the 76 recommendations of the Committee, 72 were accepted. Ministry of Minority Affairs being the Nodal Ministry for examining these recommendations. And in less than a year, i.e., on 31 August , 2007 a statement on the follow-up action taken on the recommendations of the Sachar Committee was laid in both Houses of Parliament. The progress of implementation is being reviewed regularly.

Ever since the Government has been taking regular steps towards implementation of major recommendations of the Sachar Committee. Education being the most powerful means of socio-economic transformation, a multi-pronged strategy to address the educational backwardness of the Muslim community, as brought out by the Sachar Committee, has been adopted. The madarsa modernization programme has been revised to make it more attractive by providing better salary to teachers, increased assistance for books, teaching aids and computers, and introduction of vocational subjects, etc. This scheme, now known as Quality Improvement in Madrasa Education, has been launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

A new centrally sponsored scheme of financial assistance for Infrastructure Development of Privately Managed Elementary/Secondary/Senior Secondary schools set up for minorities has been launched. National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has prepared text books for all classes in the light of the National Curriculum Framework-2005.Thirteen universities have been provided Rs.40 lakh each for starting centers for studying social exclusion and inclusive policy for minorities and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

Under the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya scheme (KGBV), criteria of educational backward blocks has been revised with effect from 1st April 2008 to cover blocks with less than 30% rural female literacy and in urban areas with less than national average of female literacy 53.67%(Census 2001). Universalization of access to quality education at secondary stage (SUCCESS), has been approved. Setting up of new Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSSs) is being incorporated in the revised schemes by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Provision of more girls’ hostels in colleges and universities in minority concentration districts/blocks is proposed under the existing University Grants Commission scheme of the Ministry of HRD.

Three scholarship schemes for minority communities viz., Pre-Matric , Post-Matric and Merit-cum-Means were launched and 6.89 lakh scholarships were awarded to students belonging to minority communities in 2008-09. The corpus of Maulana Azad Education Foundation, which stood at Rs. 100 crores, was doubled to Rs. 200 crores in December, 2006. The corpus was increased by Rs. 50 crores in 2007-08 and by Rs. 60 crore in 2008-09. A budget provision of Rs.115 crore has been made in 2009-10. A revised Coaching and Allied scheme was launched and 5522 candidates belonging to minority communities were provided assistance in 2008-09.

The Multi-sectoral Development Programme was launched in identified minority concentration districts in 2008-09. Plans of 47 Minority Concentration Districts (MCDs) in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Manipur, Bihar, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Orissa were approved and Rs.270.85 crores were released in 2008-09. In the current Financial Year, Plans of more than a dozen more MCDs have been approved till date. An inter-ministerial Task Force constituted to devise an appropriate strategy and action plan for developing 338 identified towns, having substantial minority population, rapidly in a holistic manner submitted its report on 8th November, 2007. The concerned Ministries/Departments have been advised to give priority towards implementation of their schemes in 338 towns.

Economic factor being an important tool in the upliftment of a community, all public sector banks have been directed to open more branches in districts having a substantial minority population. In 2007-08, 523 branches were opened in such districts. In 2008-09, 524 new branches were opened. Reserve Bank of India revised its Master Circular on 5th July, 2007 on priority sector lending for improving credit facilities to minority communities. Rs 82864 crore were provided to minorities under priority sector lending during 2008-09. District Consultative Committees (DCCs) of lead banks have been directed to regularly monitor disposal and rejection of loan applications from minorities. The Government has accorded ‘in principle’ approval for restructuring of National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation.

A National Data Bank, to compile data on the various socio-economic and basic amenities parameters for socio-religious communities, has been set up in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. An autonomous Assessment & Monitoring Authority (AMA), to analyse data collected for taking appropriate and corrective policy decisions, has been set up in the Planning Commission. A training module has been developed by the Indian Institute of Public Administration, for sensitization of government officials. The module has been sent to the Central/State Training Institutes for implementation. Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) has prepared a module for sensitization of organized civil services and it has been incorporated in their training programmes. Under Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), additional central assistance of Rs 1602.20 crore has been sanctioned for 69 towns having substantial minority population, out of which Rs.659.37 crore was released in 2008-09.

A High Level Committee, set up to review the Delimitation Act, has considered the concerns expressed in the Sachar Committee report and submitted its report. Guidelines on Communal Harmony have been issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Dissemination of information regarding health and family welfare schemes is being undertaken in regional languages in minority concentration areas. State Governments and UTs have been advised by Department of Personnel & Training for posting of Muslim police personnel in thanas and Muslim health personnel and teachers in Muslim concentration areas. State Governments have been advised by Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Urban Development, to improve representation of minorities in local bodies. The recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Wakfs have been received. These have been processed as per approved modalities. An expert group constituted to study and recommend the structure and functions of an Equal Opportunity Commission submitted its report on 13th March, 2008. This has been processed, along with the report of the expert group on diversity index, as per the approved modalities. To meet the ever growing need for ameliorating the condition of minorities, and Muslim community in particular, the Annual Plan allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been increased substantially to Rs 1,740 crore for the year 2009-10.

*Deputy Director (M & C), PIB, New Delhi.

Source : PIB features