MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS
(SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)
(a) to (b): Pursuant to the receipt of Sachar committee Report, it was decided to carry out a mass mobilization campaign in all districts, having a substantial population of Muslims, to generate awareness about the need for literacy and elementary education and to promote vocational education and skill development. A special literacy drive was to be taken up in these districts to improve the overall literacy rate and especially the literacy rate of Muslim women.
Saakshar Bharat, a centrally sponsored scheme for adult education and skill development, is being implemented since October, 2006 in the rural areas of 410 districts in 26 States and 1 UT that had adult female literacy of 50% or lower as per Census 2001, and all left wing extremism affected districts irrespective of their literacy rates. The main goal of the programme is to increase the country’s literacy rate to 80% and reduce the gender gap of 10 percentage points. The programme is primarily focused on women, SCs, STs, Muslim minorities and other disadvantaged groups in the rural areas in low literacy States / UTs. The principal target of the Saakshar Bharat programme is to impart functional literacy to 70 million adults in the age-group of 15 years and beyond. The category-wise target under the programme is to cover 14 million SCs, 8 million STs, 12 million Muslims and 36 million others including overall 60 million women. About 52.93 lakh learners of Muslim minorities have appeared in biannual basic literacy assessment test conducted till August, 2015 under the programme, out of which about 36.84 lakh learners of Muslim minorities have successfully passed the test. State-wise details, including undivided Andhra Pradesh, are at Annexure- I.
(c) & (d): The salient features of the Sachar Committee, which submitted its Report on 17.11.2006, inter-alia, with respect to educational status and Employment and Economic opportunities of the Muslims in the country are at Annexure- II
Ministry of Human Resource Development has informed that 30.08% of the total enrolment in minority districts was of Muslim children in 2012-13 which increased to 31.22% in 2013-14. At the national level, enrolment of Muslims in elementary schools was 13.52% in 2012-13 and 13.73% in 2013-14 as against the Muslim population share of 13.43% in 2001 (2001 Census). The enrolment of Muslim girls is even better as they accounted for 50.57% of the total enrolment in MCDs in 2013-14 which is higher than their share in the population. These facts indicated that the access to school for minorities has improved significantly. Further, as per Census 2011, the literacy rate among Muslims is 68.5% (Muslim Males- 74.7% and Muslim Females- 62%), which is much higher as compared to the literacy rate of 59.1% among Muslims as per Census 2001.
The percentage of recruitment of minorities in Central Government / Public Sector Undertakings was 8.56% in 2014-15 in comparison to 7.89% during 2013-14. Besides, as per Census 2011, the Work Participation Rate (WPR) for the Muslims was 32.6 % (reason for not working by an individual is not collected in the Census) as compared to 31.3 % as per Census 2001.
(e): The Government is already implementing a number of schemes / initiatives for educational empowerment of minorities, including Muslims, so as to ensure their adequate representation in technical and higher educational institutions as well as the Government jobs for the minorities. A list of schemes/initiatives implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs and other Central Ministries for educational empowerment of minorities, including Muslims, is at Annexure-III.
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