The Government has implemented various schemes for the welfare and upliftment of every section of the society including minorities especially the economically weaker & lesser privileged 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 across the country including North Eastern States 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 CSIR UGCNET 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 Madrasas.
(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.
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, population of minority communities in the country are:- Muslims - 17,22,45,158, Christians - 2,78,19,588, Sikhs - 2,08,33,116, Buddhists - 84,42,972, Jains - 44,51,753 and Parsis - 57,264.
No State-wise allocation of funds is made in the budget of this Ministry. However, during last five years an amount of Rs. 21,934.38 Crores had been allocated for schemes being implemented by this Ministry.
