Lok Sabha Question No. 2440 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-05
Subject: Definition of Minority
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Anurag Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2440 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.03.2020

## Definition of Minority

## 2440.  SHRI ANURAG SHARMA:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 define the word minority;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the measures being taken for issues related to minority, their safety, education and for developing better understanding, State-wise; and
- (d) the details of facilities made available to the minorities in Uttar Pradesh so far under 'Naya Savera' and 'Nayi Udaan' scheme?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) &  (b):  Yes,  Sir.  Minority  has  been  defined  under  Section  2  (c)  of  the  National Commission  for  Minorities  (NCM)  Act,  1992.  As  per  Section  2  (c)  of  the  NCM  Act, 'minority',  for  the  purposes  of  this  Act,  means  a  community  notified  as  such  by  the Central Government. So far, six communities viz. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains, have been notified as minority communities by the Central Govt.
- (c) Law and order being a State subject, measures for safety of minorities is the domain of the  State  Governments.  Further,  any  case  related  to  minority  brought  to  the  notice  of National Commission for Minorities (NCM), under the aegis of this Ministry, are taken up with concerned authorities in respective governments by NCM under Section 9 of the NCM Act, 1992.

Ministry  of  Minority  Affairs  is  implementing  various  schemes  for  the  socio-economic and  educational  empowerment  of  six  centrally  notified  minorities  as  per  brief  details given below:-

## 1. Educational Empowerment of Minorities

- (i) Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme - For Class I to X.
- (ii) Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme - For Class XI to Ph.D.
- (iii) Merit-cum-Means  based  Scholarship  Scheme  -  For  Professional  and  Technical Courses.
- (iv) Maulana Azad National Fellowship - For M.Phil. and Ph.D
- (v) Free Coaching and Allied Scheme (Naya Savera) -For Competitive Examination of Professional Courses and Government Jobs.
- (vi) Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship for Meritorious Girls belonging to the six centrally notified Minorities (Maulana Azad Education Foundation)
- (vii) 'Padho  Pardesh'-  Scheme  of  Interest  Subsidy  on  Educational  Loans  for  Overseas Studies.
- (viii) Nai Udaan - Support for students clearing Prelims conducted by UPSC, SSC, State Public Service Commission, etc.

## 2.   Economic Empowerment of Minorities

- (i) Employment-oriented  Skill  Development  Initiatives  -Seekho  Aur  Kamao.-  It  is  a placement linked skill development programme.
- (ii) Nai Manzil - A scheme for formal school education & skilling of school dropouts
- (iii) Gharib  Nawaz  Employment  Training  for  providing  short-term  job  oriented  skill development courses to youths belonging to minority communities (MAEF)
- (iv) National  Minorities  Development  and  Finance  Corporation  (NMDFC)  -  NMDFC provides concessional loans to minorities for self-employment and income generating ventures.

## 3. Improving living conditions of Minorities

- (i) Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram(PMJVK):- It is an area development scheme. The Ministry  has  identified  1300  backward  Minority  Concentration  Areas  (MCAs)  for  the implementation of this scheme.  It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for creating socioeconomic  infrastructure  as  well  as  basic  amenities  for  uplifting  the  quality  of  life  of minorities in the MCAs. The amenities are meant for all segments of the society including minorities.  The  thrust  of  the  Scheme  is  to  allocate  at  least  80%  of  the  resources  for education,  health  and  skill  development,  out  of  which  33-40%  are  to  be  specifically allocated for women centric projects.

The details of the on-going schemes/programmes are also available on the website of this Ministry:www.minorityaffairs.gov.in; www.maef.nic.in and www.nmdfc.org.

- (d) The objective of the Naya Savera Scheme is to assist students/candidates belonging to the  notified  the  minority  communities  by  way  of  special  coaching  for  qualifying  in competitive  examination  for  recruitment  to  Group  'A',  'B'  &  'C'  services  and  other equivalent  post  under  the  Central  and  State  Governments  including  public  sector undertaking,  banks,  railways  etc.  or  for  admission  in  technical/professional  courses. Under the scheme, free coaching has been provided to 15,498 students upto 2019-20 (as on 29.02.2020) in Uttar Pradesh.

The objective of the Nai Udaan Scheme is to provide financial support to the minority candidates  who  clear  the  preliminary  examinations  conducted  by  the  Union  Public Service Commission, Staff Selection Commission and State Public Service Commission. Under the scheme, financial support has been provided to 392 students upto 2019-20 (as on 29.02.2020) in Uttar Pradesh.

*************