Stressing on the importance of uplifting the minorities in the country, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on January 18, 2018 said the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) is working with commitment for the welfare of minorities through โ3E – Education, Employment, Empowermentโ.
“The government has ensured that benefits of welfare schemes reach the needy directly through a transparent systemโ, the minister said while addressing the โVikas Samanvay Baithakโ (development coordination conference) of 9 states and UTs in Lucknow.
The minister informed that in the past three years, scholarships from the MoMA have been provided to many students of the minority community.
โDuring the last 3 years, about 2 crore 42 lakh minority students have been provided various scholarships,โ he said, adding, โThis year, more than 1.5 crore students have applied for pre-matric, post-matric, merit-cum-means and other various scholarships given by the MoMA.โ
He outlined some of the achievements of his ministry and said 27 Gurukul-type residential schools have been constructed across the country for the educational empowerment of minority students.
โDuring the last 3 years, under the Multi Sectoral Development Programme, in the minority dominated areas, 10649 drinking water facilities, 32, 000 additional class rooms, 1, 817 school buildings, 15 degree colleges, 169 ITIs, 48 polytechnics, 248 multi-purpose community hall โSadbhav Mandapโ, 1064 hostels, 27 Gurukul type residential schools have been constructed for educational empowerment of minority studentsโ, he said.
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The minister also said that โGharib Nawaz Skill Development Centresโ have been established in 100 districts across the country where various courses related to job-oriented skill development are being provided.
โCourses such as โGST Facilitatorโ and โSanitary Supervisorโ are creating employment opportunities to minority youths in a large number,โ he said, adding, โ Other schemes such as โHunar Haatโ, โSeekho aur Kamaoโ, โNai Manzilโ, โGharib Nawaz Skill Development Schemeโ, โNai Roshniโ have proved to be an important step towards the skill development of minorities.โ
โIn last 3 years, these schemes have been successful in providing employment opportunities to more than 8.5 lakh people from minority communitiesโ, he pointed out.
Naqvi said that the minorities are also becoming equal part-takers in the countryโs development process.
โParticipation of minorities in Central Government jobs, which was about 5 per cent in 2014, has gone up to 10 per cent in 2017. In this year’s Civil Services exam, about 125 Minority youth have been selected, out of which 52 are from Muslim communityโ, he highlighted.
He emphasized that the MoMA has completely become online/digital with more than 280 Inspecting Authorities of the ministry working as the โwatchdogโ of various development and welfare schemes being run by the ministry. They have ensured 100 per cent honest and transparent implementation of these schemes at the ground level.
Besides Minority Affairs Ministers, Social Welfare Ministers, concerned secretaries and other senior officials from Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana were present.
Also read: Focus on educational empowerment of minority students in 2018