By Andalib Akhter, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: The Vice President of India Mr. M. Hamid Ansari today said that security continue to be a matter of concern for the minority in the country. Inaugurating the 7th Annual Conference of State Minorities Commission here the Mr. Ansari said that the recent and not-so-recent happenings in different parts of the country have created a sense of insecurity among the minorities. “A disturbing aspect of it is the failure of the state to provide security. Confirmation of this comes from judicial pronouncements”, he said
He said that rights of minorities have acquired renewed salience in the last two decades. The ‘Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities’ adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1992 noted that minorities ‘contribute to the political and social stability of States in which they live’ and that promotion of minority rights would contribute to the strengthening of friendship and cooperation among peoples and States.
He asked the authorities to go beyond committees, reports and political debates. “The expectation from minority communities, indeed from all citizens, is clear – to focus on socio-economic and political outcomes that embody the letter and spirit of our Constitution”, the vice president suggested.
Union Human Resource Minister Shri Arjun Singh in his address said that a strong nation cannot be built unless all segments of society were treated at par and conditions created enabling all citizens of India to have access to education at all levels. The Bill to provide compulsory free education up to 14 years of age is an important step in this direction and the access to school education will not remain a problem for any community now. He said that the National Monitoring Committee for Minorities’ Education (NMCME) was revived in 2004 which had been defunct since 1990s. A Standing Committee of the NMCME has also been constituted to attend to issues relating to the education of minorities on an ongoing basis.
Addressing the delegates the Chairperson of National Minority Commission Mr. Mohammad Shafi Qureshi said that despite the existence of various schemes being operated by the Central Government as well as the State Governments aimed at improvement of socio-economic betterment of minorities, the outcome these programmes was not very encouraging.
He asked the States particularly Uttar Pradesh Pradesh, West Bengal Assam and Bihar which have sizable minority population to remove their bottlenecks to implement their own schemes for the minorities as well as the Central Schemes especially the Prime Ministers’ 15 point Programme.
He also said there is need for greater coordination among various organs responsible for successful implementation and monitoring of these schemes right from the Districts to blocks, villages and Taluka levels.
The one day conference discussed the various issues and problems confronted by the minority communities in the country and to deliberate on the modus operandi to address these issues and make appropriate recommendations for taking follow up actions by concerned government departments in the Central and state Governments. A draft model act for the effective working of State Minorities Commissions was also circulated among the delegates for their suggestions. Representatives from the HRD Ministry, the Minority Affairs Ministry, the Planning Commission and Indira Gandhi Open University also attended the Conference.