By IANS
New Delhi : The government reviews the progress of its programmes for the welfare of minorities every six months in a bid to make sure that policies are being implemented, says Minority Affairs Minister A.R. Antulay.
In reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Antulay said: “The progress of implementation of the prime minister’s new 15-point programme is reviewed by the committee of secretaries and then by the cabinet on a half-yearly basis.”
The 15-point programme, announced in June last year, is aimed at improving the socio-economic and educational prospects of minorities in India, home to one of the largest populations of Muslims in the world.
The cabinet reviewed the first progress report on the subject on June 21. The secretaries’ committee has also submitted the second report, the minister said, adding that this too would be reviewed by the cabinet shortly.
Giving details of the programme, the minister stated: “The programme also seeks to earmark 15 percent of outlays and targets for the minorities wherever possible.”
He mentioned other schemes for minorities – merit-cum-means scholarship for technical and professional courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as free coaching to those educationally backward among the minorities.
Besides, the corpus of the Maulana Azad Education Foundation has been augmented and the equity of the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation is being increased in 2007-08 to expand operations and coverage.
The minister also said that a multisectoral development programme was being formulated to provide basic amenities and improve opportunities for employment in the identified backward minority concentration districts.
“Some sections among Muslims and Christians figure in the list of socially and educationally backward communities. This being so, the provisions for reservation in appointments for other backward classes are available to them,” Antulay said in reply to another question in the upper house.