Lok Sabha Question No. 657 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-22
Subject: Assistance to Minority Communities
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Kunwar Danish Ali

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 657 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2021

## Assistance to Minority Communities

## †657.  KUNWAR DANISH ALI:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the names of the communities included in the list of Minority Communities;
- (b) the community-wise population thereof;
- (c) whether the Government provides any assistance for the conservation and development of their culture along with the education of the said communities; and
- (d) if so, the amount of assistance provided during the last three years, community-wise

## A N S W E R

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

- (a) & (b)   As  per  Section  2  (c)  of  the  National  Commission  for  Minorities  (NCM)  Act,  1992,  six communities namely Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis have been notified as minority  communities.  As  per  Census  2011,  the  population  of  the  country  includes  2,08,33,116 persons of Christian community, 2,78,19,588 persons of Sikh community, 17,22,45,158 persons of Muslim  community,  84,42,972  person  of  Buddhist  community  and  44,51,753  persons  of  Jain community.
- (c) & (d): The Ministry of Minority Affairs also implements programmes/ schemes for socio-economic and  educational  empowerment  of  notified  minority  communities  which  includes  (a).  Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme, Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme, Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme, (b)  Maulana  Azad  National  Fellowship  Scheme,  (c)  Naya  Savera  -  Free  Coaching  and  Allied Scheme, (d).  Padho  Pardesh  -  Scheme  of  interest  subsidy  to  students  of  minority  communities  on educational loans for overseas higher studies, (e) Nai Udaan - Support for students clearing Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), State Public Service Commission (PSC) Staff Selection Commission (SSC) etc. (f)  Jiyo Parsi - Scheme for containing population decline of Parsis  in  India,  (g)  USTTAD  (Upgrading  the  Skills  and  Training  in  Traditional  Arts/Crafts  for Development), (h) Hamari Dharohar- A scheme to preserve rich heritage of minority communities of India  under  the  overall  concept  of  Indian  culture.    Besides  that  the  Maulana  Azad  Education Foundation (MAEF) also implements education and skill related schemes namely (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.  The scheme in which community-wise beneficiary details are available i.e. scholarships, fellowships, interest subsidies financial assistance for clearing Preliminary Examinations(Nai Udaan) etc. released/sanctioned during the last three years i.e. 2018-19 to 2020-21 are enclosed at Annexure. The further details of schemes and other initiative of the Ministry is available at www.minorityaffairs.gov.in

*****

Annexure referred in the reply to part (c) & (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.657 asked  by  Shri  Kunwar  Danish  Ali  to  be  answered  on  22.07.2021  regarding  "Assistance  to Minority Communities"

(In Rs. Crore)

|   S.No. | Scheme                                   |   Funds Released |
|---------|------------------------------------------|------------------|
|       1 | Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme            |          3826.57 |
|       2 | Post Matric Scholarship Scheme           |          1296.47 |
|       3 | Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme |           943.14 |
|       4 | Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme  |           271.35 |
|       5 | Padho Pardesh Scheme                     |            79.63 |
|       6 | Nai Udaan                                |            18.9  |

| Total Scholarships sanctioned            | Buddhist                                 | Christian                                | Jain                                     | Muslim                                   | Sikh                                     | Parsi                                    |
|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme            | Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme            | Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme            | Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme            | Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme            | Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme            | Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme            |
| 16306171                                 | 510672                                   | 1948543                                  | 183391                                   | 12318535                                 | 1342754                                  | 2276                                     |
| Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme           | Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme           | Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme           | Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme           | Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme           | Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme           | Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme           |
| 2075539                                  | 12896                                    | 262131                                   | 43419                                    | 1575034                                  | 181621                                   | 438                                      |
| Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme | Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme | Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme | Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme | Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme | Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme | Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme |
| 353744                                   | 1025                                     | 61245                                    | 9849                                     | 272085                                   | 9507                                     | 33                                       |
| Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme  | Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme  | Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme  | Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme  | Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme  | Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme  | Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme  |
| 2251                                     | 112                                      | 285                                      | 74                                       | 1568                                     | 207                                      | 5                                        |
| Padho Pardesh Scheme                     | Padho Pardesh Scheme                     | Padho Pardesh Scheme                     | Padho Pardesh Scheme                     | Padho Pardesh Scheme                     | Padho Pardesh Scheme                     | Padho Pardesh Scheme                     |
| 10508                                    | 183                                      | 5904                                     | 1065                                     | 2612                                     | 725                                      | 19                                       |
| Nai Udaan                                | Nai Udaan                                | Nai Udaan                                | Nai Udaan                                | Nai Udaan                                | Nai Udaan                                | Nai Udaan                                |
| 3553                                     | 199                                      | 593                                      | 311                                      | 2402                                     | 48                                       | -                                        |