Year-End Review
The Ministry of Minority Affairs was
created on 29th January, 2006 to ensure a focused approach to the
issues relating to the minorities and to play a pivotal role in the over all
policy, planning, coordination, evaluation and review of the regulatory and
development framework for the benefit of the minority communities.
In a relatively short period of
time, the Ministry has been made functional and efforts have been made to
streamline ongoing programmes/schemes and to launch innovative and effective
schemes/programmes for the welfare of the minority communities.
Prime
Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for
the Welfare of Minorities
The programme was approved by the
Cabinet in June, 2006. All States and Union Territories and all Union
Ministries/Departments have been advised of the programme. Prime Minister has written to all Chief
Ministers seeking their cooperation and advising them to put in place a
suitable monitoring mechanism.
Detailed guidelines have been issued.
Earmarking of outlays and targets for eight of the nine schemes,
considered amenable to such earmarking, has been done with the approval of
Prime Minister. The Ministry of Rural Development has amended the guidelines for the three
schemes included in the programme. Guidelines have been issued by the Department
of Personnel & Training (DOP&T) for improving the representation of
minorities in government and public sector enterprises. The Ministry of Home
Affairs has taken initiative to put in place a mechanism for dealing with
communal violence, offences and rehabilitation of victims.
National
Commissioner for Minorities (NCM)
(a)Tabling of Reports
and ATM in Parliament
The National
Commission for Minorities (NCM) had submitted 12 Annual Reports before this
Ministry was formed. One more report
was submitted afterwards in October, 2006. In a period of 12 years from 1994,
only three reports of the Commission,
along with Action Taken Memoranda (ATM), were placed in Parliament.
Thereafter, all nine reports, along with ATM, were tabled in Parliament
by the end of the last Budget Session. The last Annual Report (13th
Report) of the Commission which was submitted in October, 2006, was tabled
in Parliament along with the ATM in the Monsoon Session, 2007.
(b)Constitutional status to the National
Commission for Minorities
The Cabinet in its meeting has approved the Note for the Cabinet to move official
amendments to the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Bill, 2004
and the National Commission for Minorities (Repeal) Bill, 2004.
Certain issues, raised in representation
received by PM, pertaining to the official amendments approved by the Cabinet
are being examined afresh in consultation with the Ministry of Law & Justice,
Govt. of India. Fresh notices to the Lok Sabha Secretariat will be given only
after these issues are resolved.
National Minorities Development and
Finance Corporation (NMDFC)
The
achievement of NMDFC has been grossly inadequate in comparison with the size
of the target group. While only about
three lakhs beneficiaries have been given assistance, crores are eligible
to be helped. The Corporation has to
be revamped completely and a fresh structure put in place if it is to meet
its obligations to the target group. A
Committee of bankers and financial experts was set up to look into this. The
Committee has submitted its report which has some very innovative ideas. Based on the recommendation of the Committee,
a proposal for restructuring of NMDFC has been prepared and a draft Cabinet
Note has been circulated for inter-ministerial consultation.
Follow up action regarding the report of
the Sachar Committee
The Sachar
Committee submitted its report on 17th November,
2006. This has been tabled in Parliament
on 30th November, 2006.A total of seventy-six recommendations/suggestions
contained in the report were examined by the Ministry in consultation with
twenty-two other Ministries/Departments. A statement on the “Follow- up action on the
recommendations of the Sachar Committee” has been laid in both Houses of Parliament
on 31st
August, 2007. Appropriate action has been taken to implement the Cabinet decisions. The concerned Ministries/Departments have been
requested to furnish updated position of action taken to the Ministry of Minority
Affairs on a quarterly basis by the 15th day of the month following
the quarter ending. They have also been advised to nominate a nodal officer,
not below the rank of a Joint Secretary, to represent their Ministries/Departments
in quarterly review meetings. The Principal Secretary to PM has decided to
hold meetings on a monthly basis to review the status of the follow-up action
on the recommendations of the Sachar Committee. The first review meeting was
held on 7th November, 2007.
Minority Concentration
Districts (MCDs)
The Ministry has been able to complete
the identification through a comprehensive exercise based both on a population
cut-off and relevant backwardness parameters. The proposal was considered by the Committee
of Secretaries (CoS) and recommended for consideration of the Cabinet. The
Cabinet approved the proposal on 17th May, 2007, including formulation of a special
area development plans designed to tackle the relative backwardness of these
districts. A sum of Rs.120 crore has been provided in the Annual Plan 2007-08
for implementing a multi-sectoral development programme. An amount
of Rs 4.98 crore has been sanctioned to the Indian Council of Social Science
Research (ICSSR), an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Human Resource
Development, for carrying out a baseline survey in the identified minority
concentration districts.
Implications of the geographical
distribution of minorities
This subject
was examined by the Ministry in view of the uneven distribution of minorities
in the country. A note was submitted
to the Prime Minister for consideration. As decided by him, an Inter-Ministerial Task
Force has been constituted under the chairmanship of Dr. B.L. Mungekar, Member,
Planning Commission to devise an appropriate strategy and action plan
for developing these areas rapidly in a holistic manner.
The Task Force has submitted its report to the Prime Minister on 8th November, 2007.
Plan Proposals
A Working Group on empowering the
minorities was set up last year. The
recommendations of the Working Group have been
examined by the Ministry and a plan proposal of Rs. 11724.50 crore for the XIth Five Year Plan and Rs. 1134 crore for the Annual Plan were
submitted to the Planning Commission. An
outlay of Rs. 500 crore has been provided for 2007-08.
Scholarship Schemes
i) Merit-cum-Means scholarship for professional
& technical courses: Three
new scholarships schemes for students belonging to the minority communities
were to be launched during 2007-08. One is the Merit-cum-Means Scholarship
Scheme for technical and professional education. The scheme was approved by the CCEA on 21st
June, 2007. The scheme is expected to be an effective instrument
for the empowerment and mainstreaming
of the minority communities. A budget provision of Rs 54 crore has been made
for this scheme in the Annual Plan 2007-08. States/UTs have advertised the
scheme inviting applications from eligible students. Ministry has started
the process for sanctioning proposals.
(ii) Coaching & Allied Scheme: The Coaching & Allied Scheme has been
revised to cater to the emerging trends of the job market and to ensure that
the economically weaker sections of students belonging to the minority communities
are able to avail the job opportunities in an era of economic liberalization. A budget provision
of Rs 10 crores has been made for this scheme in the Annual Plan 2007-08.
(iii) Post-Matric Scholarship for Minorities: A post-matric scholarship
scheme for students belonging to the minority communities in class-XI and XII, including technical, professional
and vocational courses, and students from undergraduate to P.hd course
in colleges/institutes/ universities recognized by an appropriate authority.
15 lakh scholarships are targeted for the Eleventh Five Year Plan period.
Maulana Azad Education
Foundation
The corpus fund of the Foundation,
which stood at Rs.100 crores, received by MAEF over a period of 15 years,
was doubled to Rs.200 crores in one stroke in December, 2006. There is a provision
of a further amount of Rs. 50 crores for the corpus fund of MAEF during the
current year. For ensuring that the
larger resources available to the Foundation are utilized property, a SAG
rank officer of the Govt. of India has been appointed as Secretary to the
Foundation. An evaluation study has
been entrusted to the Organization Research Group (ORG) to assess the impact
of the schemes of the Foundation. The report of the Evaluation Study is being
examined. Directions have been given
to the Foundation to ensure that the funds available are allocated in an equitable
and transparent manner to all States, based on objective and relevant criteria.
SMK/ST/JA
(Release ID :34224)