Patna, (Bihar Times): The 7th Annual Conference of State Minorities Commission began on Tuesday with a call to discourage the cult of hatred and communal polarization in the country. It was inaugurated by the Vice President, Hamid Ansari.

Addressing the delegates the Chairperson of National Minority Commission Mr. Mohammad Shafi Qureshi said this is an important occasion for interaction and exchange of views between the Central Commission and the State Minorities Commissions to look into the various issues and problems confronted by the minority communities. He said 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 does not seem to be very encouraging.

The states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal Assam and Bihar which have sizable minority population must remove their bottlenecks being experienced in implementation of their own schemes for the minorities as well as the Central Schemes especially the Prime Ministers’ 15 point Programme.

He 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.

Emphasising on the urgent need to disseminate information about various welfare and development schemes and plans of the Government among the minorities Mr Qureshi said the NCM and the State Minority Commission need to monitor on regular basis the allocation of funds for minority welfare programmes by the respective state governments and their pattern of expenditure. He said the flow of credit facilities to minorities by the banking and financial institutions need to be improved so that the objectives of their economic empowerment can be achieved and the socio-economic growth can be accelerated.

He said in order to have adequate representation of minorities in the Government jobs the NCM and the State Minority Commissions must ensure that in all selection committees constituted in the government and the Public Sector undertakings, a member from the minority community must be invariably included. The major concerns of the Commission which are pending with the government are grant of constitution al status to the National Commission for Minorities and a bill on prohibition of communal violence in the country, he added.

The Vice President of India Mr M. Hamid Ansari in his inaugural address said ours is a land whose diversity includes religious minorities. Every sixth Indian is in this category. In absolute terms, it amounts to almost 200 million people. He said that in law, they are beneficiary of all rights; in fact, deprivation exists and has been acknowledged.

This has impacted on the overall progress of the country. The Vice President said that there are three broad and inter-related dimensions to consider while discussing the question of minorities – Identity, Security and Equity. The policies and programmes initiated in the wake of the Sachar Report are indicative of the corrective action under way. The key to success lies in close monitoring of the implementation at ground level.

Mr Ansari expressed his concern that the 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.

Union Human Resource Minister Shri Arjun Singh in his address said that a strong nation cannot be built unless all segments of our society are 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 many path breaking steps to address Issues of Access, Equity and Inclusion in the National system of education in respect of minorities and permanent mechanisms have been put in place for the protection of educational rights of minorities during the last five years. 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.

The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions was set up as our commitment to the National Common Minimum Programme of UPA. This is the first time that a specific Commission has been established by the Central Government for protecting and safeguarding the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. Madrassa Education has received a special attention in the HRD Ministry and recently the recommendations of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council of Board of School Education in India (COBSE) regarding equivalence of Madrassa qualification have been given approval which will make madrassa students eligible for the jobs under Government of India. Setting up of the Central Madrassa Board is under consideration.

The Union Labour and Employment Minister, Oscar Farnandes, while addressing the conference emphasized on the need to increase the earning capacities of youths especially from the minority community and said said proper education and ensured employment to our youths can prevail peace and harmony in our country . He said technical education being under his charge 50,000 technical schools will be opened in the country during the next 10-12 years for such children who can not go for higher education. He said 400 are to upgraded and of these 60-70 are in the areas of minority concentration.

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.

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comments...

Why is it that in India, the word 'minority' is taken as a religious minority only?
Of late, the word 'minority' seems to be appropriated by members of the Muslim community alone.
Anglo-Indians are a linguistic minority, Sikkimese and Darjeeling Nepalese are ethnic minorities and so are Indian-born Chinese people. In Bihar, Malayalees may be regarded as linguistic minorities, and in Kerala, Biharis are part of the linguistic minority!
So most of us Indians are minorities in some way or the other!
Frank Krishner

sikkimkrishna@gmail.com