MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS
(SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)
(a) and (b): No Sir.
(c) : There is no proposal to conduct a survey to ascertain the number of people from Muslims and other minority communities living Below Poverty Line (BPL)..
(d) to (e) : Most of the socio economic and educational empowerment schemes and programmes of the Central government are meant for the socio economically poor and deprived sections of the society, including the six centrally notified minorities, who are getting benefitted. The Ministries/Departments of the Central Government and the State Governments have been implementing various schemes in various sectors e.g. education, health, employment-oriented skill development, etc. for target groups including minorities for upliftment of their living standards. In addition, other poverty alleviation and economic development schemes implemented by the Central Ministries/Departments also benefit the minorities. .
Further, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has adopted a multi-pronged strategy by way of implementation of various schemes which aim at educational empowerment, employment-oriented skill development, infrastructure support, etc. for the upliftment of living standards of the notified minorities (Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains) across the country including Bihar. Details of these schemes are as under:
(A) Educational Empowerment
(i) Scholarship Schemes- Pre-Matric Scholarship, Post-Matric Scholarship and Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship.
(ii) Naya Savera – Free Coaching and Allied Scheme with the aim to enhance skills and knowledge of students and candidates from minority communities to get employment in Government Sector/ Public Sector Undertaking, jobs in private sector, and admission in reputed institutions in technical and professional courses at under-graduate and post-graduate levels.
(iii) Nai Udaan- a scheme for providing support to minority candidates clearing Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission, State Public Service Commissions, etc., to adequately equip them to compete for appointment to Civil Services in the Union and the States so as to increase the representation of the minorities in the Civil Services.
(iv) Padho Pardes- A scheme for providinginterest subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies to enable students from minority communities to pursue higher education.
(v) Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme, provides financial assistance to students from notified minority communities, to pursue higher education such as M.Phil and Ph.D.
(vi) In addition, the Maulana Azad Education Foundation implements the following two schemes:
(a) Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship for meritorious girls belonging to minorities in class IX to XII.
(b) Gharib Nawaz Employment Programme.
(B) Economic Empowerment
(i) Employment-oriented Skill Development: programme
(a) Seekho aur Kamao (Learn & Earn)”: It is a skill development initiative for minorities and aims to upgrade the skills of minority youth in various modern/traditional skills depending upon their qualification, present economic trends and market potential, which can earn them suitable employment or make them suitably skilled to go for self-employment.
(b) Upgrading Skill and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development (USTTAD)-The scheme aims at capacity building and upgrading of the traditional skills of master craftsmen and artisans; documentation of identified traditional arts/crafts of minorities; set standards of traditional skills; training of minority youths in various identified traditional arts/crafts through master craftsmen; develop national and international market linkages; and preservation of languishing Arts/Crafts. Hunar Haats are organised in various parts of the country, which provides direct and indirect employment to skilled artisans and craft persons.
(c) Nai Manzil – A scheme to provide education and skill training to the youth from minority communities.
(i) National Minorities Development Finance Corporation (NMDFC) Loan Schemeswhich provide concessional loans for self-employment and income generating activities for the socio- economic development of the ‘backward sections’ amongst the notified minorities.
(ii) Priority Sector Lending by Banks.
(C)Infrastructure Support
Besides, there is another Scheme namely Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK), which aims to improve the socio-economic conditions of minorities and provide basic amenities,so as to improve their quality of life and reduce imbalances in the identified Minority Concentration Areas. The major projects considered under PMJVK are in education, health and skill sectors and include Residential Schools, New Schools, Hostels, Degree Colleges, ITIs, Polytechnics, Sadbhav Mandaps, Health Centres, Skill Centres etc.
Also, under the Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities, schemes/initiatives are being implemented by various Ministries/Departments of the Central Government throughout the country, including Ministry of Minority Affairs, either exclusively or by earmarking of 15% of overall physical/financial target, wherever feasible, for the welfare of notified minorities.
The details of various schemes, being implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, as well as other Ministries/Departments for the welfare of minorities are available on the website of the Ministry of Minority Affairs at – www.minorityaffairs.gov.in.
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