Rules changed to bring minority quota in rural schemes

As per this, 15% of the beneficiaries of the scheme will have to be drawn from minority communities. The ministry has specified separate proportion of minority beneficiaries for each state depending on the minority population there.

The schemes include:

• The flagship Rs 1200-crore self-employment generation scheme, Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), where minorities have been included as one of the focus groups along with SCs and STs.

• The Rs 3000-crore Indira Awaas Yojana (rural housing)

• Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY): In 200 districts it’s been folded into the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. The minority share will apply to the remaining 400 districts for which the budget is Rs 3000 crore. This won’t apply to the NREG since that’s a demand-based scheme.

Speaking to The Indian Express, RJD leader and Minister for Rural Development, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, said: “This shows my commitment towards the welfare of minorities. Once the Government had decided to implement this programme, there was no confusion in my mind to implement it as soon as possible.”

The decision comes after a 15-point programme for minorities worked out by the UPA in June this year had identified six Central departments and asked them to make special efforts targeting minorities, specifically Muslims. The programme entails the Centre as well as state governments to channelize a fixed proportion of the funds/resources of educational and socio-economic development schemes towards minority communities to ensure equitable distribution of benefits to these communities. Despite the Cabinet nod for this programme, there was resistance by all ministries concerned because of the need to rework programmes mid-way through the year.

Since no extra budgetary allocation was made for the programme, a figure of 15 percent was agreed in-principle to be earmarked from the existing allocation. The Ministry for Minority Affairs, led by A R Antulay, was put in charge of monitoring the progress on 15-point programme in the country. The programme identified six departments: Women & Child Welfare, Labour, Rural Development, Elementary education, Urban Poverty Alleviation, and Banking for reworking their scheme implementation with special focus on minorities.