Lok Sabha Question No. 1822 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-11
Subject: Socio Economic Status of Muslims
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Faizal P.P. Mohammed

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1822 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.02.2021 SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS OF MUSLIMS

## 1822.  SHRI MOHAMMED FAIZAL P.P.:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether a seven-member High Level Committee headed by former Chief Justice of Delhi High  Court  Rajinder  Sachar  was  constituted  to  study  the  social,  economic  and  educational condition of Muslims in the country;
- (b) if so, the details of suggestions/recommendations made by the Committee along with the current status of implementation thereof;
- (c) the Centrally funded schemes for development of minorities in the country; and
- (d) the Central schemes which aim at increasing the literacy rate among minorities?

## ANSWER

## MINSTER FOR MINORITY AFFAIRS

## (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

- (a)  & (b) : Yes,  Sir. The Government had constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Justice (Retired) Rajinder Sachar in March 2005 for preparation of a report on the Social, Economic and Educational status of the Muslim community of India.  The Committee was to consolidate, collate and analyze the above information to identify the areas of intervention by  the  Government  to  address  relevant  issues  relating  to  the  social,  economic  and educational status of the Muslim community.

Total 76 recommendations were culled out from the Report, and 72 of these were accepted by  the  Government  which  were  grouped  into  43  decisions  for  follow  up  action  by  various Ministries/Departments concerned. A statement on the decisions of the Government on the recommendations  of  the  Sachar  Committee  was  laid  in  both  Houses  of  Parliament  -  31 st August, 2007.

The  Ministry  of  Minority  Affairs  regularly  reviews  the  progress  of  implementation  of  the Sachar Committee recommendations.  Details of the decisions of the Government on the Sachar Committee recommendations and their implementation are available on the website of the Ministry www.minorityaffairs.gov.in .

- (c)  The Government is implementing various schemes for the welfare and upliftment of every section of the society including minorities especially economically weaker sections, all over the country with schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN), Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojana  (PMUY),  Pradhan  Mantri  AwasYojana  (PMAY),  Beti  Bachao  Beti  Padhao Yojana, etc.

Ministry of Minority Affairs also implements programmes/ schemes for socio-economic and educational  empowerment  of  the  six  (6)  centrally  notified  minority  communities  namely Christians,  Sikhs,  Buddhists,  Parsis,  Jains  and  Muslims.  These  schemes/programmes  in brief are as under:-

- (1)  Pre-Matric  Scholarship  Scheme,  Post-Matric  Scholarship  Scheme,  Merit-cum-Means based  Scholarship  Scheme  -  For  educational  empowerment  of  students  through  Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.
- (2) Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme - Provide fellowships in the form of financial assistance.
- (3)  Naya Savera - Free Coaching and Allied Scheme - The Scheme aims to provide free coaching to students/candidates belonging to minority communities for qualifying in entrance examinations of technical/ professional courses and Competitive examinations.
- (4)  Padho  Pardesh  -  Scheme  of  interest  subsidy  to  students  of  minority  communities  on educational loans for overseas higher studies.

(5)  Nai Udaan - Support for students clearing Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), State Public Service Commission (PSC) Staff Selection Commission (SSC) etc.

(6) Nai Roshni - Leadership development of women belonging to minority communities..

(7) Seekho Aur Kamao - Skill development scheme for youth of 14 - 35 years age group and aiming at improving the employability of existing workers, school dropouts etc.

(8) Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) earlier known as MsDP - Implemented for the  benefit of the people  from  all  sections  of  the  society  in  identified  Minority Concentration Areas for creation of assets in education, skill and health sectors.

(9) Jiyo Parsi - Scheme for containing population decline of Parsis in India.

(10) USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development)

(11) Nai Manzil - A scheme for formal school education & skilling of school dropouts.

(12) Hamari Dharohar- A scheme to preserve rich heritage of minority communities of India under the overall concept of Indian culture.

(13)  Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF) implements education and skill related schemes as follows:-  (a)  Begum  Hazrat  Mahal  National  Scholarship  for  Meritorious  Girls belonging to the economically weaker sections of Minorities (b) Gharib Nawaz Employment Scheme started in 2017-18 for providing short term job oriented skill development training to youth (c) Bridge Course for madarsa students & school dropouts.

(14)  Equity  to  National  Minorities  Development  and  Finance  Corporation  (NMDFC)  for providing  concessional  loans  to  minorities  for  self-employment  and  income  generating ventures.

In  addition  to  the  above,  the  Ministry  also  implements  schemes  for  strengthening State Waqf Boards and coordinates arrangements for annual Haj pilgrimage.

The  details  of  the  schemes  (S.  No.1  to  12)    mentioned  above    and  status  of  their implementation are available on the website of this Ministry (www.minorityaffairs.gov.in) and those at serial No.(13) and (14) are available on the website of MAEF (www.maef.nic.in) and NMDFC (www.nmdfc.org ) respectively.

Further,  Ministry  of  Education,  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy  runs  a Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  viz.  Scheme  for  Providing  Education  to  Madrasas/  Minorities (SPEMM).  SPEMM  is  an  Umbrella  scheme  which  comprises  Scheme  for  Providing  Quality Education in Madrasa (SPQEM) and Infrastructural Development in Minority Institutions (IDMI). The SPEMM is voluntary in nature and demand driven. The  objective  of  SPQEM  is  to  encourage  traditional  institutions  like  Madrasas  and Maktabs  by  giving  financial  assistance  to  engage  teachers  to  teach  Science,  Mathematics, Social Studies, Hindi and English in their curriculum so that academic proficiency for Classes I-XII is attainable for children studying in these institutions. of  minorities  by  augmenting  and  strengthening  school infrastructure in Minority Institutions (elementary/secondary /senior secondary schools) in order

IDMI  facilitates education to expand facilities for formal education to children of minority communities.

(d)    In  the  Ministry  of  Education  (D/o  School  Education  &  Literacy),  currently  a  Centrally Sponsored  Scheme  of  Adult  Education  'Padhna  Likhna  Abhiyaan'  is  under  implementation during  Financial  year  2020-21  with  physical  target  of  imparting  functional  literacy  to  57  lakh adult illiterates including SCs, STs and minorities in the age group of 15 and above under basic literacy programme.

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