Question : Problems faced by Minority Communities

(a) whether the Government has taken note of the problems being faced by minority communities in the country;
(b) the schemes aimed to empower the students belonging to minority communities in the country;
(c) whether the Government has recently reviewed the centrally sponsored Scholarship Scheme & Free Coaching and Allied Scheme for Minority Communities Students;
(d) the details of the coaching institutions providing free coaching to minority students in the country, State-wise;
(e) the details of the students benefited under Scholarship Scheme & Free Coaching and Allied Scheme for last two years and the current year, State-wise;
(f) whether the Government has received proposals to increase the financial support for Scholarship Scheme & Free Coaching and Allied Scheme from the State Governments; and
(g) if so, the details thereof and the response of the Government thereto?

MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS
(SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

(a): The Government has notified six communities as minorities in the country under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. These communities are Buddhist, Christian, Jain,Muslim, Sikh andZoroastrian (Parsis). It has been the endeavour of the Government to take necessary steps for empowerment of minorities, in general, and improve their quality of lifeacross the country by way of implementing several schemes/initiatives, meant for their welfare, and by taking necessary measures therefor. These are being done by way of their educational empowerment, skill development, economic empowerment, preservation of traditional skills, infrastructural development in minority concentration area, etc.

(b): The Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) is implementing the following schemes for educational empowerment of notified minorities:
i. Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme (for Class I to X);
ii. Post-matric Scholarship Scheme (for Class XI to Ph.D.);
iii. Merit-cum Means based Scholarship Scheme (For Professional and Technical courses at under graduate and post graduate levels);
iv. NayaSavera - Free Coaching & Allied Scheme (for Competitive Examinations of Professional Courses and Government jobs);
v. Maulana Azad National Fellowship (for M.Phil&Ph.D);
vi. NaiUdaan - Support for Minorities (for clearing Prelims examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and State Public Service Commissions (SPSCs);
vii. PadhoPardesh (for overseas studies at Masters, M.Phil. and Ph.D. Level);
viii. NaiManzil (An Integrated Education and Livelihood Initiative Communities); and
ix. BegamHajratMahal National Scholarship for Meritorious Minority Girls- Implemented by Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF) (for minority girls studying in Class IX to XII).

(c): The Government endeavoursto review all the ongoing schemesmeant for the welfare of minorities, in general, at regular intervals, which is a continuous process.
(d): The state-wise details of coaching institutions/organizations empaneled under the Free Coaching and Allied scheme for 2017-18 to 2019-20 is available on the website of this Ministry i.e. www.minorityaffairs.gov.in. The number of coaching institutions/organizations empanelled in each state is at Annexure-I.
(e): The state-wise details of the students benefited under the Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme;Post-matric Scholarship Scheme;Merit-cum Means based Scholarship Scheme;NayaSavera - Free Coaching & Allied Scheme and BegamHajratMahal National Scholarship for Meritorious Girls for the last two years and the current year are at Annexures-II, III and IV.
(f)& (g):Requests have been received from some State Governments for increasing the community-wise quota for their State as there is a fixed State/Community-wise quota under Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme, Post-matric Scholarship Scheme and Merit-cum Means based Scholarship Scheme for minorities and these are currently being implemented without any change.Free Coaching & Allied Scheme is being implemented through empanelled institutions/organizations scattered all over the country and rates of coaching fees of various courses have also been increased wherever necessary.


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