(a) the number of ethnic minorities whose population is less than 1 lakh in the country;
(b) whether the Government proposes to confer minority status on such ethnic minorities; and
(c) if so, the steps taken by the Government to ensure that their number does not dwindle further?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)
(a) to (c) This Ministry notifies religious minorities as minority communities under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. As on date, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians(Parsis) and Jains have been notified as minority communities under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. As per Census 2001, the population of these communities was as under:
Religion Number
Muslims 138,188,240 Christians 24,080,016 Sikhs 19,215,730 Buddhists 7,955,207 Jains 4,225,053 Zoroastrians 69,001 (Parsis)
Religion-wise data of Census 2011 have not yet been released. There is no proposal under consideration in this Ministry to confer minority status to ethnic minorities.
For containing the population decline of the Parsi community, a Central Sector Scheme ‘Jiyo Parsi’ was launched during 2013-14. The objective of this scheme is to reverse the declining trend of Parsi population by adopting a scientific protocol and stru- ctured interventions to stabilize their population and balance their population in India. An amount of Rs.40.82 lakh and Rs.50.00 lakh has been released during 2013-14 and 2014-15 respectively for Medical, Advocacy & Outreach component.