Lok Sabha Question No. 37 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-20
Subject: Budget for Minority Development
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Mimi Chakraborty

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 37

ANSWERED ON 20.07.2023

## BUDGET FOR MINORITY DEVELOPMENT

## 37. MS. MIMI CHAKRABORTY:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  Government  has  reduced  the  budget  for  development  of minorities in the country for the 2023-24 fiscal by 38 per cent from the previous year;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the total allocation for educational empowerment for minorities, which was Rs. 2,515 crore in 2022-23, has been reduced to Rs. 1,689 crore in the current fiscal year and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the quantum of funds spent on pre-matric schlarships, Ustad and Nai Manzil schemes, research  schemes  and  the  scheme  for  leadership  development  of  minority  women during the last five years and the current year?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a)  to  (b):   The Government  implements  various schemes  for  the  welfare and upliftment of every strata, including minorities, specially the economically weaker and lesser privileged sections  of  the society,  through  various schemes  of  the  Ministry  of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship,  Ministry  of Textiles,  Ministry  of Culture,  Ministry  of Women  and Child  Development,  Ministry  of Rural  Development,  Ministry  of  Education, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Ministry of Jal Shakti etc.

1.          Ministry  of  Minority  Affairs  specifically implements various schemes  across  the country  for socio-  economic  and educational empowerment of  the  six  (6)  centrally notified minority communities.  These schemes give representation to all weaker segments of society including minorities. The Schemes/ programmes implemented by the Ministry during the last five years are as under:

## A. Educational Empowerment schemes

- (1) Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme
- (2) Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme
- (3) Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme

## B. Employment and Economic Empowerment Schemes

- (4) Pradhan Mantri VirasatkaSamvardhan (PM VIKAS)

(5) Equity to National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) for providing concessional loans to Minorities

## C .   Special Schemes

- (6) Jiyo Parsi: A Scheme for reversing the population decline of Parsis in India

(7)  Quami Waqf Board Taraqqiati Scheme (QWBTS) and Shahari Waqf Sampatti Vikas Yojana (SWSVY)

(8)  Research/Studies,  Dissemination,  Monitoring and Evaluation  of  Development Schemes including Publicity

## D.  Infrastructure Development Schemes

(9) Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK)

2. The budget of the schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs was reduced from Rs. 5020.50  crore  for  the  FY  2022-23  to  Rs.  3097.60  crore  for  the  FY  2023-24  due  to  the following reasons:

(i)            Adoption  of  new  mechanism  for  release  of  Central  share  of  funds  under  Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Central Sector Schemes, for which State Nodal Agencies (SNA) and Central Nodal Agencies (CNA) were required to be appointed. As per the revised procedure of Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, release of funds under Pradhan Mantri Jan  Vikas  Karyakram  (PMJVK)  are  not  tied  to  the  individual  projects  and  the  amount available  in  the  account  of  State  Nodal  Agency  (SNA)  forms  a  common  pool.  As  on 17.07.2023,  the  unspent  amount  with  the  States  is  Rs.  4820.11  crore,  and  the  States  are required to first incur expenditure from the SNA account, to complete the ongoing projects.

(ii)      Scholarship schemes of the Ministry were to be aligned with the pattern followed by the Education Ministry and other ministries such as Tribal Affairs and Social Justice. Central Government  had  taken  the  decision  to  limit  the  coverage  under  Pre-Matric  Scholarship Scheme for Minorities to only Classes IX and X based on very strong rationale. Firstly, it was observed  that  the  participation  of  students  from  Minority  communities  is  at  par  with  the national  average  at  primary  and  elementary  level.  Also,  the  students  at  these  levels  are already  covered  under  Right  to  Education  (RTE)  Act.  Further,  there  was  a  felt  need  to harmonize  the  coverage  under  Pre-Matric  Scheme  for  minorities  with  similar  schemes implemented for other target groups like Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and the OBCs.

(iii) The two flagship schemes of the Ministry -Scholarship Scheme and PMJVK Scheme together account for nearly 80% of the Ministry's budget.

(iv) The Government has taken a decision to discontinue the following schemes from the Financial Year 2022-23:-

- (a) Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority students
- (b) Padho Pardesh
- (c) Free Coaching and Allied Schemes (Naya Savera)
- (d) Nai Udaan Scheme  - Support for Minority Students clearing Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), State Public Service Commissions (SPSCs)

(iv) Skilling  schemes  (Skill  Development  Initiative,  USTTAD,  NAI  Manzil,  Hamari Dharohar and Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority women) under Ministry of Minority  Affairs  have  been  amalgamated  under  the  PM  Virasat  Ka  Samvardhan  (PM VIKAS).

- (c): Against  the  budget  allocation  of  ₹  2,294  Crore  for  2021-22,  Rs  2,428Crore  was allocated  for  2022-23  for  Pre-Matric,  Post  Matric,  Merit  cum  Means  Based  Scholarship Scheme,  MaulanaAzad  National  Fellowship  and  Padho  Pardesh  Scheme,  as  the  Schemes were  proposed  for  revision  during  2022-23.  During  2023-24,  the  allocation  under  the  3 scholarship schemes is ₹ 1542.00 Crore.
- (d): The information regarding expenditure of the schemes implemented by Ministry of Minority  Affairs  during  the  last  five  years  is  available  on  the  website  of  Ministry  i.e. https://www.minorityaffairs.gov.in/. For current year i.e FY  2023-24,  the budgetary allocation  and  expenditure  of  pre-matric  scholarship,  USTTAD,  Nai  Manzil  scheme, Research/Studies,  Dissemination,  Monitoring  and  Evaluation  of  Development  Schemes including Publicityand scheme for leadership development of Minority women is as under:

(Rs. in crore)

|   Sl. | Name of the Scheme/Project                                                                            |   BE 2023-24 |   Expenditure (As on 17.7.2023) |
|-------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|---------------------------------|
|     1 | Pre-matric scholarship                                                                                |        433   |                            0.79 |
|     2 | Research/Studies, Dissemination, Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Schemes including Publicity |         20   |                            0.29 |
|     3 | USTTAD                                                                                                |          0.1 |                            0    |
|     4 | Nai Manzil                                                                                            |          0.1 |                            0    |
|     5 | Scheme for leadership development of Minority women                                                   |          0.1 |                            0    |

*****