Lok Sabha Question No. 61 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-02-24
Subject: Scheme for Upliftment of Minorities
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: SONA RAM CHOUDHARY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 61 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.02.2016

## Scheme for Upliftment of Minorities

- 61 COL. SONARAM CHOUDHARY:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of schemes being run for upliftment of minorities by the Government;
- (b) whether  efforts  are  being  made  to  make  the  minorities  self-reliant  by  providing them loans on priority basis under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government intends to increase the amount of central share granted to the States under the Centrally sponsored schemes for the welfare of minorities; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

- (a) The  details  of  the  schemes  being  run  by  the  Ministry  of  Minority  Affairs  for  the upliftment of Minorities are listed in ( Annexure I )
- (b)&  (c):    The  details  of  efforts  being  made  to  make  Minorities  self  reliant  by  providing loans under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana are annexed at Annexure-II.
- (d)&(e): No, madam, at present all  Schemes, except MsDP, implemented  by the Ministry are  under  Central  Sector.    Only  one  Scheme  (i.e)  MsDP  is  under  Centrally sponsored Scheme and the share of the State Government is limited to 25% as per approval of the Cabinet.

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## Annexure-I

Details of Schemes being run for upliftment of Minorities by Ministry of Minority Affairs

- i. Pre-matric Scholarship SchemeThe scholarship is provided to minority students studying in class I to X in recognized Government/Private schools. Minimum 30% scholarships  are  earmarked  for  girls.  To  be  eligible,  students  should  not  have annual family income of more than Rs.1.00 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class.
- ii. Post-matric  Scholarship  SchemeThe  scholarship  is provided  to minority students  studying  in  class  XI  to  Ph.D  level  in  recognized  Government/Private schools/Colleges/Institutes. Minimum 30% scholarship are earmarked for girls. To be eligible, students should not have annual family income more than Rs.2.00 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class.
- iii. Merit-cum-Mean based Scholarship Scheme -The merit-cum-means scholarship scheme is awarded for pursuing professional and technical courses, at under-graduate and post-graduate levels, in institutions recognized by the appropriate authority. Under the scheme, 30% of these scholarships are earmarked for  girl  students.  85  institutes  for  professional  and  technical  courses  have  been listed in the scheme. To be eligible, students should not have annual family income of more than Rs.2.50 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class.
- iv. Maulana Azad National Fellowship The objective of the Fellowship is to provide integrated five year fellowships in the form of financial assistance to students from minority  communities  to  pursue  higher  studies  such  as  M.Phil  and  Ph.D.  It  is implemented through University Grant Commission (UGC). Fellowship is awarded to research students pursuing regular and full time M.Phil and Ph.D. courses. To be eligible,  the  annual  income  of  the  family  from  all  sources  should  not  exceed Rs.2.50 lakh. 30% of the fellowships are earmarked for eligible girl students.
- v. Free  Coaching  &  Allied  Scheme  The  objectives  of  the  scheme  are  to  assist students belonging to the minority communities by way of special coaching for (a) qualifying  examinations  for  admission  in  technical/  professional  courses  such  as engineering, law, medical, management, information technology etc. (b) Competitive  examinations  for  recruitment  to  Group  'A'  ,  'B'  and  'C'  services  and other equivalent posts under the Central and State governments including public sector undertakings, banks, insurance companies as well as autonomous bodies. To be eligible for free coaching, the annual income of the family from all sources should not exceed Rs.3.00 lakh.
- vi. Support  to  minority  candidates  clearing  Prelims  conducted  by  UPSC/SSC, State Public Service Commission (PSC) etc. The objective of the Scheme is to provide financial support to the Minority candidates clearing prelims conducted by Union  Public  Service  Commission,  Staff  Selection  Commission  and  State  Public

Service Commissions to adequately equip them to compete for appointment to Civil Services in the Union and the State Governments and to increase the representation of the Minority in the Civil Services by giving direct financial support to candidates clearing Preliminary Examination  of Group 'A' and 'B' (Gazetted and non-Gazetted  posts  of  Union  Public  Service  Commission  (UPSC);  State  Public Service Commissions (SPSCs) and Staff Selection Commission (SSC) etc.

- vii. Padho Pardesh- Interest Subsidy on Educational Loans for overseas studies -The objective of the scheme is to award interest subsidy to meritorious students belonging to economically weaker sections of notified minority communities so as to provide them better opportunities for higher education abroad and enhance their employability.  To  be  eligible,  the  annual  income  of  the  family  from  all  sources should not exceed Rs.6.00 lakhs.

However, there is one scheme which is community specific namely 'Jiyo Parsi' , which is implemented to check population decline of Parsis in India.

- viii. 'Seekho  aur  Kamao' is  a  placement  linked  skill  development  scheme  for minorities. It aims to upgrade the skills of minority youth in various modern/traditional  skills  depending  upon  their  qualification,  present  economic trends  and  market  potential,  which  can  earn  them  suitable  employment  or  make them suitably skilled to go for self-employment. The scheme ensures placements of minimum 75% trainees, out of which at least 50% placement is in organized sector. The  scheme  is  implemented  in  States  through  selected  Project  Implementing Agencies (PIAs).
- ix. 'Nai  Roshni' is  an  exclusive  scheme  for  Leadership  Development  of  Minority Women  with  an  aim  to  empower  and  instill  confidence  in  women  by  providing knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with Government systems, banks and  intermediaries  at  all  levels.  The  scheme  is  implemented  in  State  through selected Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs).
- x. A  scheme 'USTTAD  (Upgrading  the  Skills  and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development)' has been started during 2015-16 to preserve the rich  heritage  of  traditional  arts/crafts  of  minorities.  The  scheme  aims  at  capacity building and updating the traditional skills of master craftsmen/artisans; documentation  of  identified  traditional  arts/crafts  of  minorities;  set  standards  for traditional skills; training of minority youths in various identified traditional arts/crafts through master craftsmen; and develop national and international market linkages.
- xi. The Multi-sectoral  Development  Programme  (MsDP) is  a  Centrally  Sponsored Scheme and is being implemented by Ministry of  Minority  Affairs  with  an  aim  to address  the  development  deficits  by  creating  socio-economic  infrastructure  and providing basic amenities for uplifting the quality of life of targeted minorities. Under the programme infrastructural assets are created for different sectors of development including Education, Health and skill development for welfare of the minorities.

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