Ministry of Minority Affairs-Year review

The Ministry was carved out of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in 2006.

Objective- To ensure a more focused approach towards issues relating to the notified minority communities - Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Sikhs, Parsis and Jain.

As per Census 2011, around 19.3% of the population belongs to minorities.

• Mandate- To formulate, coordinate, evaluate and review the overall policy and planning, the regulatory framework and the development programmes that aim to benefit the minority communities.

Constitutional Safeguards for Linguistic Minorities

The term "minority" is not defined in the Indian Constitution. However, the Constitution recognises religious and linguistic minorities.

• The Central Government notifies minority communities at the national level under the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act, 1992.
• 6 communities notified as minorities under the Section 2 (c) of NCM Act are Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains.
• Article 29 - Right of any section of the citizens residing in India with a distinct language, script or culture of its own to conserve it.
• It grants protection to both religious minorities as well as linguistic minorities.
• The Supreme Court held that the scope of this article includes minorities as well as the majority.
• Article 30 - All minorities shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
• The protection under Article 30 is confined only to minorities and does not extend to any section of citizens.
• Article 347 – If the President is satisfied that a substantial proportion of the population of a State desire the use of any language spoken by them to be recognised by that state, he may direct such language to be officially recognised.
• Article 350 - It gives the right to submit representation for redressal of grievances to any authority of the Union or a State in any of the languages used in the Union/States.
• Article 350A - It provides for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups.
• Article 350B - It provides for a special Officer designated as Commissioner for Linguistic minorities to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities.

Key Initiatives

Scholarship Schemes

• The Scholarship Schemes are implemented for the educational empowerment of students belonging to economically weaker section of the 6 notified minority communities.

PM Vikas Scheme

Pradhan Mantri VIrasat Ka Samvardhan Scheme has subsumed 5 existing schemes of the Ministry namely

• • Seekho Aur Kamao (SAK)
  • USTTAD
  • Hamari Dharohar
  • Nai Roshni
  • Nai Manzil

Aim- To cover the life cycle of under privilege segment of minority community and focus on providing livelihood opportunities.

Seekho Aur Kamao scheme(Learn and Earn)

• Launch year- 2013
• Aim- It is placement linked skill development scheme that aims to upgrade the skills of minority youth (14-45 years) in various modern/ traditional skills.

USTTAD scheme

• The scheme stands for Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/ Crafts for Development.
• Launch year- 2015
• About- Targets capacity building and upgrading the traditional skills of master craftsmen/ artisans from the minority communities.
• Hunar Haat- It has been implemented as a component of the scheme since 2016-17.
• It is an effective platform for minority artisans, craftpersons and culinary experts to showcase and market their finest handicraft and exquisitely crafted indigenous products.

Hamari Dharohar

• Launch year-2014
• Objective- To protect and preserve the rich culture and heritage of the minority communities living in India.
• To improve livelihoods of minorities, particularly artisans, through skill development, education and leadership training.

Nai Roshini

• Launch year- 2012
• About- It is a training programme conducted for women belonging to minority community between the age group of 18 years to 65 years.

Nai Manzil scheme

• Launch year- 2015
• Aim- To benefit the youth belonging to 6 notified minority communities of 17-35 years of age, who do not have formal school leaving certificate.

• Significance- It provides a combination of formal education (Class VIII or X) and skills to enable beneficiaries seek better employment and livelihood.
• Integrated Skill Training- It is being provided to the youth in market driven skills.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK)

• Earlier scheme- Multi-sectoral Development Programme
• Aim- It is a centrally sponsored scheme that seeks to provide better socio-economic infrastructure assets and basic amenities to the notified minorities mainly in the field of education, health & skill development.
• 33 to 40% of resources under the PMJVK would be specifically allocated for women centric projects.
• Need- The scheme is designed to address the development deficits of the identified Minority Concentration Areas that were identified on the basis of minority population and socio-economic and basic amenities data of Census 2011.
• Significance- Ministry of Minority Affairs, in collaboration with National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO is geo tagging the infrastructure constructed under the scheme.

National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC)

• Launch year- 1994
• It is a National Level Apex Body for the benefit of Minorities as defined under the National Commission for Minorities Act 1992.
• It is a non-profit company under Companies Act 2013.
• Aim- To promote socio-economic development of backward sections amongst the minority communities through State Channelizing Agencies (SCAs).
• Preference- Given to the occupational group and women.
• MInority Loan AccouNting (MILAN) Software is launched by NMDFC to digitize loan accounting processes.

Haj Pilgrimage 2023

• Hajj refers to the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which every adult Muslim must make at least once in his/her lifetime.
• The hajj is the 5^th of the fundamental Muslim practices and institutions known as the Five Pillars of Islam.
• Haj pilgrimage for the Indian Pilgrims is conducted either through
  • Haj Committee of India (HCoI), a statutory organization under the Ministry of Minority Affairs or through
  • Haj Group Organisers (HGOs)
• e-MASIHA- Medical Assistance System for Indian Hajis Abroad is an online OPD System enabled to create and maintain health database of all Indian pilgrims who availed medical facilities during the Haj.
• The ministry has partnered with State Bank of India (SBI) to make special arrangements to provide Forex facilities to the pilgrims.      
• Haj Policy 2023- Gives the flexibility to the pilgrims to arrange their own foreign currency or take lesser foreign exchange, as per their individual requirements.

Naya Savera

• Launch year- 2017
• Aim- To provide free coaching to candidates belonging to minority communities for qualifying in entrance examinations of technical/ medical professional courses and Competitive examinations.
• The scheme provides financial support for free coaching to notified minority students in selected coaching institutions.

Jiyo Parsi

• Launch year- 2013-14
• Objective- To reverse the declining trend of Parsi Population by adopting scientific protocol and structured interventions to stabilize their population in India.

Padho Pardesh

• About- It is a scheme of interest subsidy to students of minority communities on educational loans for overseas higher studies.
• Feature - 100% subsidy on the interest rate.

Nai Udaan

• About- This central sector scheme support students for clearing Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), State Public Service Commission (PSC) Staff Selection Commission (SSC) etc.,
• The selected candidate will get 100% financial support.

Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS)

• It is a skill development architecture aimed at providing an all-India Level training framework.
• Established- 2014
• Headquarters- New Delhi
• Concessional credit is provided for minority community after meeting their skilling needs for expanding their existing businesses and setting up new businesses.

Cyber Gram

• It is a Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) in an effort to equip the targeted group with the knowledge of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
• Launch year- 2015
• Coverage- Class VI to Class X belonging to minority community.

Garib Nawaz Employment Scheme

• Launch year- 2017-18
• About- The scheme provides short-term job oriented skill development courses to minorities’ youth in order to enable them for skill based employment.
• Implementation- As per the norms issued by the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSD&E)).

Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Program

• Launch year- 2006
• Aim- To ensure that the underprivileged and weaker sections of centrally notified minority communities have equal opportunities for availing the various government welfare schemes and contribute to the overall socio-economic development of the country.
• Objectives-
  • Enhancing opportunities for education
  • Ensuring an equitable share for minorities in economic activities and employment
  • Improving the conditions of living of minorities by ensuring an appropriate share for them in infrastructure development schemes
  • Prevention and control of communal disharmony and violence

National Commission for Minorities

• Statutory body- It is established under National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.

The first statutory National Commission was set up in 1993.

• About- It is a forum for appeal, set up by the Government to safeguard the rights and interests of India’s minority communities.

National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities

• Launch year- 2005
• Chairman- Ranganath Mishra, former Chief Justice of India
• Aim- To evaluate different type of factors and issues associated with linguistic and religious minorities in the country and to ensure social, economical and educational uplift.
• The commission submitted its report in 2007.

Sachar Committee

• Launch year- 2005
• Chairman- Rajinder Sachar, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court.
• Aim- To study the social, economic and educational condition of Muslims in India.
• Outcome- The report was submitted in 2006 which suggested solutions for the inclusive development of the Muslins in India.

Durgah Khawaja Saheb Act, 1955

• It is an act to make provision for the proper administration of the Dargah and the Endowment of the Dargah of Khwaja Moin-ud-din Chishty (Dargah Khwaja Saheb, Ajmer).
• Mandate of Dargah Committee- To provide service to the public through development of infrastructure as per the provision of Dargah Khwaja Saheb Act 1955 and its Bye Laws of 1958.

Central Waqf Council

• Statutory body- It was established in 1964 as per the provision given in the Waqf Act, 1954.
• Composition- The council consists of chairman and members not exceeding 20 in number.
• Ex-officio chairman- Union Minister in charge of Waqf.
• Function - Acts as an advisory body to the Central Government on matters concerning the working of the Waqf Boards and Auqaf.