Lok Sabha Question No. 2607 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-01-03
Subject: Minority Status to Jews
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: POONAM  MAHAJAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2607 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03-01-2018

## Minority Status to Jews

## 2607. SHRIMATI POONAM MAHAJAN:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the total population of Jews in India, State wise;
- (b)  whether the Government has recognised the need to grant minority status to the members of the Jewish community in the country;
- (c)  if so, the details thereof;
- (d)  whether members of the Jewish community have received minority status in the States of Maharashtra and West Bengal; and
- (e)  if so, the rationale behind granting minority status to Jews by the said States?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

- (a) There is no separate categorization of Jews in the population Census 2011. They  have  been  included  in  the  category  of  'others',  therefore,  exclusive population figure of Jews as per census 2011 is not available.   However, the State/UT wise population of Jews/Judaism religious community   as per Census 2001 is attached at Annexure-I.
- (b)&(c)      So far, the Central Government has not granted minority status to the Jewish community.
- (d)&(e)   Central Government declares a communities as 'Minorities' under Section 2(c) of National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act, 1992 in the context of India as a whole.    Declaration of minority community within the State is the subject matter  of  the  State  Government  concerned.    As  per  information  made available by NCM, State Government of Maharashtra has declared Jews as Minority while State of West Bengal has not declared  Jews as Minority.

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Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a ) Lok Sabha  Unstarred Question No.2607  for 03-01-2018 asked by SHRIMATI POONAM MAHAJAN regarding  'Minority Status to Jews'.

| S.No.   | State Code   | Name of the State   | Population   | Population   | Population   |
|---------|--------------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| S.No.   | State Code   | Name of the State   | Persons      | Males        | Females      |
| 1       | 2            | 3                   | 4            | 5            | 6            |
| 1       | 05           | UTTARANCHAL         | 1            | 0            | 1            |
| 2       | 07           | DELHI               | 23           | 11           | 12           |
| 3       | 08           | RAJASTHAN           | 30           | 15           | 15           |
| 4       | 09           | UTTAR PRADESH       | 33           | 15           | 18           |
| 5       | 10           | BIHAR               | 1            | 1            | 0            |
| 6       | 13           | NAGALAND            | 71           | 34           | 37           |
| 7       | 14           | MANIPUR             | 859          | 435          | 424          |
| 8       | 15           | MIZORAM             | 805          | 394          | 411          |
| 9       | 17           | MEGHALAYA           | 5            | 5            | 0            |
| 10      | 18           | ASSAM               | 38           | 20           | 18           |
| 11      | 19           | WEST BENGAL         | 43           | 18           | 25           |
| 12      | 20           | JHARKHAND           | 11           | 4            | 7            |
| 13      | 21           | ORISSA              | 1            | 0            | 1            |
| 14      | 23           | MADHYA PRADESH      | 18           | 7            | 11           |
| 15      | 24           | GUJARAT             | 134          | 57           | 77           |
| 16      | 27           | MAHARASHTRA         | 2466         | 1192         | 1274         |
| 17      | 28           | ANDHRA PRADESH      | 1            | 1            | 0            |
| 18      | 29           | KARNATAKA           | 21           | 10           | 11           |
| 19      | 30           | GOA                 | 14           | 7            | 7            |
| 20      | 32           | KERALA              | 64           | 30           | 34           |
| 21      | 33           | TAMIL NADU          | 8            | 3            | 5            |
| 22      | 34           | PONDICHERRY         | 3            | 2            | 1            |
| 23      | 00           | INDIA               | 4650         | 2261         | 2389         |