By IANS,
New Delhi : States should work in unison with the central government for the welfare of minorities without caring for credit, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Friday.
The governments of states and union territories should “work in unison with the ministry of minority affairs for implementing various schemes meant for the welfare of the minorities without indulging in one-upmanship for getting the credit”, Khurshid said.
He was speaking at the annual conference of state government officials for minorities.
The minister claimed that various minority development schemes and programmes of the central government have begun showing results.
“The percentage of priority sector lending to the persons belonging to minorities has increased to around 13 and the employment of minorities in the government and public sector undertakings has also increased to over nine percent,” the minister said.
He emphasized that he would like to see the convergence of interests of minorities and the majority communities, “as happens in the case of multi-sectoral development programme where, in a minority concentration district, the majority community also benefits, thereby strengthening the social fabric”.
The central government has announced various schemes for minority communities in the country. Of India’s 1.2 billion population, Muslims are the largest minority at 14 percent followed by Christians at 2.3 percent, Sikhs at 1.9 percent, Buddhists at 0.8 percent, Jains at 0.4 percent and others, including Parsis, at 0.6 percent.