Assistance to Minority Communities

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, the population of the country includes 2,08,33,116 persons of Christian community, 2,78,19,588 persons of Sikh community, 17,22,45,158 persons of Muslim community, 84,42,972 person of Buddhist community and 44,51,753 persons of Jain community.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs also implements programmes/ schemes for socio-economic and educational empowerment of notified minority communities which includes (a). Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme, Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme, Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme, (b) Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme, (c) Naya Savera – Free Coaching and Allied Scheme, (d). Padho Pardesh – Scheme of interest subsidy to students of minority communities on educational loans for overseas higher studies, (e) Nai Udaan – Support for students clearing Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), State Public Service Commission (PSC) Staff Selection Commission (SSC) etc. (f)  Jiyo Parsi – Scheme for containing population decline of Parsis in India, (g) USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development), (h) Hamari Dharohar- A scheme to preserve rich heritage of minority communities of India under the overall concept of Indian culture.  Besides that the Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF) also implements education and skill related schemes namely (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) Bridge Course for madarsa students & school dropouts. The scheme in which community-wise beneficiary details are available i.e. scholarships, fellowships, interest subsidies financial assistance for clearing Preliminary Examinations(Nai Udaan) etc. released/sanctioned during the last three years i.e. 2018-19 to 2020-21 are enclosed at Annexure. The further details of schemes and other initiative of the Ministry is available at www.minorityaffairs.gov.in

 Annexure 

(In Rs. Crore)

This information was given by Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in the Lok Sabha on July 22, 2021.