Lok Sabha Question No. 236 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-03
Subject: Schemes for Upliftment of Minorities
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Gowdar Mallikarjunappa Siddeshwara, Poonam (Mahajan) Vajendla Rao

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.236 ANSWERED ON 03.02.2022

## SCHEMES FOR UPLIFTMENT OF MINORITIES

## 236.  SHRI G.M.SIDDESHWAR: SHRIMATI POONAM MAHAJAN:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  details  of  schemes  introduced  for  upliftment  of  minorities  and  to  improve  their quality of living standards alongwith the budget allocated for the purpose during the last three years;

(b) whether scholarships have been provided to minority students during the said period and if so, the details thereof;

(c) the details of funds allocated and expenditure incurred under various schemes and the number of beneficiaries, State-wise including in the States of Karnataka and Maharashtra;

(d) whether there is any proposal to increase this amount in the current year, if so, the details thereof; and

(e) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a): The Government has implemented various schemes for the welfare and upliftment of every section of the society including minorities especially the economically weaker and deprived  sections  of  the  society  with  schemes  like  Pradhan  Mantri  Jan  Arogya  Yojana (PMJAY), Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM  KISAN),  Pradhan  Mantri  Ujjwala  Yojana  (PMUY),  Pradhan  Mantri  Awas  Yojana (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,  Muslims, Parsis and Jains. The schemes/programmes implemented by the Ministry in brief are as under:

## (A): Educational Empowerment Schemes:

(1) Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme- Scholarship is provided to minority students from Class I to X,out of which 30% scholarship are earmarked for girls.

Post-Matric  Scholarship  Scheme-  Scholarship  is  provided  to  minority  students  from Class XI to PhD.,out of which 30% scholarship are earmarked for girls.

Merit-cum-Means  based  Scholarship  Scheme-  Scholarship  is  provided  to  minority students  for  Professional  and  Technical  courses,  at  Under  Graduate  and  Post Graduate level,out of which 30% scholarship are earmarked for girls.

All the three Scholarship schemes are on boarded on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) and the scholarship amount is disbursed through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.

(2) Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme - Under the scheme fellowship in the form of financial assistance is provided to minority candidates who clear the UGC-NET or Joint CSIRUGC-NET examination.

(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/  medical  professional  courses  and  various Competitive examinations.

(4)  Padho  Pardesh  -  Under  the  scheme  interest  subsidy  is  provided  to  students  of minority communities on educational loans, for overseas higher studies.

(5)  Nai  Udaan  -  Support  is  provided  to  minority  candidates  clearing  Preliminary examination  conducted  by  Union  Public  Service  Commission  (UPSC),  State  Public Service Commission (PSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC) etc.

## (B): Employment Oriented Schemes:

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

(7) USTTAD  (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development). An effective platform to provide self-employment, market and opportunity  to  traditional  artisans  and  craft  persons  from  the  minority  communities. Hunar  Haats  are being organised across the Country to  provide  employment opportunities and markets to artisans/craftsmen.

(8) Nai Manzil - A scheme for formal school education & skilling of school dropouts or educated in community educational institutions like Madarsas.

(9) Nai Roshni - Leadership development of women belonging to minority communities and non-minority communities (not exceeding 25% of each batch).

## (C): Special Schemes

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

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

## (D): Infrastructure Development Programme:

(12) Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) - The scheme aims to provide basic infrastructure such as Schools, Colleges, ITIs, Polytechnics, Hostels, Sadbhav Mandap, Skill  Development  Centres,  Drinking  water  and  Sanitation  facilities,  Health  Projects including  hospitals,  Sport  facilities,  Smart  classrooms,  Aanganwadi  Centers  etc.  in deprived areas of the Country. The scheme is implemented in the identified areas having minimum of 25% minority population and backwardness parameters below the national average in respect of socio economic or basic amenities or both.

(13) Also, 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) Grant-in-aid  to NGOs for infrastructure development of educational institutions.

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

The details of the schemes mentioned at S. No.(1) to (12) 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.

During the last three financial years w.e.f 2018-19 to 2020-21 an amount of Rs. 13113.47 Crore (Revised Estimate) has been allocated for implementation of various schemes of the Ministry.

(b): Yes, Sir. During last three financial years an amount of Rs. 6547.88 Crore has been sanctioned for providing scholarship to.more than 1.96 Crore Minority students under PreMatric, Post Matric, Merit-cum-means and Begum Hazrat Mahal scholarship schemes.

(c): There is no State-wise fund allocation under above mentioned schemes. However, an amount  of  Rs.  13113.47  Crore  (Revised  Estimate)  has  been  allocated  during  the  last three  financial  years  i.e  2018-19  to  2020-21  out  of  which  an  amount  of  Rs.  12083.76 Crore has been utilised for the above mentioned schemes etc, benefitting  more than 2 Crore beneficiaries from various states including the states of Karnataka and Maharashtra.

(d)  &  (e):The  Budget  Estimates  (BE)  of  the  Ministry  for  financial  year  2022-23  is Rs.5020.50 Crore against BE of Rs. 4810.77 crore for the current financial year i.e 202122.

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