Lok Sabha Question No. 5364 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-25
Subject: Unemployment among Minorities
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Kunwar Danish Ali

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5364

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.07.2019

## Unemployment among Minorities

## 5364   SHRI KUNWAR DANISH ALI:

Will the Minister of Minority Affairs be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the unemployment of minorities are continuously increasing in the country and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  any  plan  to  provide  job  oriented  courses andprogrammes to the minorities and if so, the details thereof,
- (c) the steps being taken by the Government for the betterment of minority students; and
- (d) whether the Government has any plan to increase the scholarship of minority students especially for girls and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)  to  (c):    Unemployment  Rate  in  usual  status  i.e.    principal  status+  subsidiary status (ps + ss) for persons belonging to major religious groups (Hinduism, Islam, Christianity,  and  Sikhism)  from  past  Employment  and  Unemployment  Surveys conducted    by  National  Sample  Survey  Organisation  (NSSO)    during  its  66 th round (July  2009-June 2010), 68 th round  (July  2011-  June  2012)  and  from  the Periodic,  Labour  Force  Survey  (PLFS)  conducted  during  July  2017  -  June 2018,along  with  explanatory  notes  thereto,  are  given  in Annexure  -I and Annexure II respectively.

Besides, religion-wise details of working population and non-working population as per Census 2011, are also available at the following link http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/Religion\_pca/RL-0000.xlsx

Ministry of Minority Affairs has adopted multi-pronged strategy so as to enhance the  employability  of  notified  minorities  (Jain,  Buddhist,  Sikh,  Parsi,  Muslim  and

Christian)  by  way  of  implementation  of  various  schemes  which  aim  at  their educational empowerment, skill development, infrastructure support, etc. Details of these schemes are as under:

## Educational Empowerment

- (i) Scholarship  Schemes-  Pre-Matric  Scholarship,  Post-Matric  Scholarship and Merit-cum-Means based Scholarships.
- (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  postgraduate 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) 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 and Training Programme.

## Economic Empowerment

- (i) Employment-oriented Skill Development:
- (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 regularly  being  organised  providing  market  and  opportunities  to  skilled artisans and craftpersons.
- (c)  Nai  Manzil  -  A World  Bank  assisted  scheme  to  provide  education  and skill training to the youth from minority communities.
- (ii) 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.
- (iii) Priority Sector Lending (PSL) by Banks.

## Infrastructural Support

Besides, there is another Scheme namely Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK ),  which  aims  at  improving  the  socio-economic  conditions  of  minorities and providing basic amenities  so as to  improve  their  quality  of  life  and  reduce imbalances in the identified Minority Concentration Areas.  Education, Health and Skill  Development  are  focus  areas  under  the  scheme  for  which  80%  of  the resources  are  allocated.  The  major  projects  approved  under  the  Education Sector and for Skill Development, include Residential Schools, School buildings, Hostels  including  Girls  Hostels,  Toilets  and  Drinking  Water  facilities,  Sadbhav Mandaps, Degree Colleges, ITIs, Polytechnics, etc.

Also Ministries/Departments of the Central Government and the State Governments  have  been  implementing  various  schemes  in  socio-economic sectors e.g. education, health, skill development etc. for target groups including minorities.

(d)      Yes Sir.  The government during the last five years has provided 3.18 crores scholarships to students from amongst the six centrally notified Minorities namely, Jain,  Buddhist,  Sikh,  Parsi,  Muslim  and  Christian.  Out  of  these,  girls  constitute more  than  50%  of  the  beneficiaries.  During  the  next  five  years,  the  Ministry  of Minority Affairs (MoMA) has proposed to increase the beneficiaries underthe PreMatric, Post-Matric and Merit-cum-Means scholarships to the economically weaker-section  students  from  these  six  centrally  notified  Minority  communities. This will include more than 50% of girl students. The three scholarship schemes are  now  being  implemented  through  the  National  Scholarship  Portal  (NSP)  and since  2015-16  the  scholarships  are  being  disbursed  fully  under  direct  benefit transfer (DBT) mode to improve the efficiency and bring transparency by removing duplicity and stopping pilferages.

*****

ANNEXURE  TO  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  5364  TO  BE ANSWERED ON 25.07.2019 ON UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG MINORITIES

Unemployment  rate  in  usual  status  (ps+ss)  for  different  religious  groups during 2009-2010 (66 th round), 2011-12 (68 th round) and PLFS (2017-18)

| All-India              | All-India     | All-India     | All-India     | All-India     | All-India     | All-India     |
|------------------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
| Major Religious Groups | Survey Period | Survey Period | Survey Period | Survey Period | Survey Period | Survey Period |
| Major Religious Groups | 2009-10       | 2011-12       | 2017-18       | 2009-10       | 2011-12       | 2017-18       |
| (1)                    | (2)           | (3)           | (4)           | (5)           | (6)           | (7)           |
|                        | Rural male    | Rural male    | Rural male    | Rural female  | Rural female  | Rural female  |
| Hinduism               | 1.5           | 1.7           | 5.7           | 1.4           | 1.4           | 3.5           |
| Islam                  | 1.9           | 2.2           | 6.7           | 2.0           | 3.9           | 5.7           |
| Christianity           | 2.6           | 3.4           | 6.9           | 6.0           | 6.4           | 8.8           |
| Sikhism                | 2.7           | 1.3           | 6.4           | 1.7           | 1.3           | 5.7           |
|                        | Urban male    | Urban male    | Urban male    | Urban female  | Urban female  | Urban female  |
| Hinduism               | 2.9           | 2.8           | 6.9           | 5.8           | 5.2           | 10.0          |
| Islam                  | 2.5           | 3.8           | 7.5           | 6.8           | 4.4           | 14.5          |
| Christianity           | 2.2           | 4.4           | 8.9           | 4.6           | 8.8           | 15.6          |
| Sikhism                | 5.6           | 3.5           | 7.2           | 8.3           | 5.5           | 16.9          |

## ANNEXURE TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5364 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.07.2019 ON UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG MINORITIES

## Explanatory Note:

1. Definition  of  worker  (employed  persons):  Persons  who,  during  the  reference period, were engaged in any economic activity or who, despite their attachment to economic activity, temporarily abstained from work for reasons of illness, injury or other  physical  disability,  bad  weather,  festivals,  social  or  religious  functions  or other contingencies constituted workers .
2. Definition of usual status worker (ps+ss): The workers in the usual status (ps+ss) are  obtained  by  considering  the  usual  principal  status  (ps)  and  the  subsidiary status  (ss)  together.  The  workers  in  the  usual  status  (ps+ss)  include  (a)  the persons who worked for a relatively long part of the 365 days preceding the date of  survey  and  (b)  the  persons  from  among  the  remaining  population  who  had worked at least for 30 days during the reference period of 365 days preceding the date of survey.
3. Seeking  or  available  for  work  (or  unemployed):  Persons  who,  owing  to  lack  of work,  had  not  worked  but  either  sought  work  through  employment  exchanges, intermediaries,  friends  or  relatives  or  by  making  applications  to  prospective employers  or  expressed  their  willingness  or  availability  for  work  under  the prevailing conditions of work and remuneration, were considered as those 'seeking or available for work' (or unemployed).
4. Unemployed persons in usual status (ps+ss): The number of persons unemployed for  a  relatively  long  period  during  a  reference  period  of  365  days  is  defined  as unemployed in the usual principal  status or in usual status (ps). However, some of the  unemployed  on  the  basis  of  this  criterion  might  be  working  in  a  subsidiary capacity. Therefore, the persons who are neither employed in PS  nor employed in SS but available  for  work  (seeking  or  not)  are  defined  as  unemployed  in  usual status (ps+ss).
5. Household Religion: The religion of the head of the household, as reported by the informant, was considered as the religion of the entire household irrespective of the actual religion followed by individual members.

Unemployment Rate (UR):

*100

. . no of unemployed persons no of employed persons 

.

no of unemployed persons

<!-- image -->

*****