Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has said that is ministry will launch two schemes in this year. The USTTAD Samman Samaroh will be launched during Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya birth centenary under which the artisans and craftsmen of the Minorities will be honoured. The other scheme Campaign for Education will be launched on the anniversary of former president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam on 15th October 2017. This campaign will be held during 2017-18 and one hundred districts have been identified for this.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today on the achievements of the Ministry of Minority Affairs during three years of NDA regime Shri Naqvi said that the Government has been successful to bring the poor, backward and weaker sections of the Minorities into the mainstream of the development through “3E”- Education, Employment and Empowerment. He emphasized that our “Empowerment without Appeasement” policy has created an “atmosphere of development and trust” among Minorities. Schemes/programmes such as “Garib Nawaz Skill Development Centre”, “Usttad”, “Nai Manzil”, “Nai Roshni”, “Seekho aur Kamao”, “Padho Pardes”, “Progress Panchayat”, “Hunar Haat”, multi-purpose “Sadbhav Mandap”, “PM’s new 15 point programme”, “Multi-sectoral Development Programme”, “Begum Hazrat Mahal Scholarship” for girls, etc. have ensured development of every needy person belonging to the Minority communities.

The Minister said that keeping in view the socio-economic-educational empowerment of Minorities, the Government have increased Budget of the Minority Affairs Ministry to Rs 4195.48 crore for 2017-18, which is Rs 368.23 crore more than the 2016-17 Budget of Rs 3827.25 crore. In 2012-13 the budget of the Ministry was Rs 3135 crore, in 2013-14 Rs 3511 crore, in 2014-15 Rs 3711 crore and in 2015-16 the budget was Rs 3713 crore. He said that about 70 per cent of the 2017-18 Budget, will be spent on programmes/schemes aimed at educational empowerment and skill development of Minorities.

Shri Naqvi said that the Modi Government is committed to provide quality education to students belonging to Minority communities and keepin this in mind, the Ministry of Minority Affairs is establishing 5 world class educational institutions which will provide education in technical, medical, Ayurved, Unani etc. fields across the country. A high-level committee, constituted on 10th January, 2017 to frame roadmap including places where these institutes will be established, will soon submit its report. Our target is to start academic session in these institutes from 2018. We have proposed 40 per cent reservation for girls in these institutions. About 100 Navoday Vidyalaya type schools will also be opened in Minority concentrated areas in the coming months. To ensure better education to every person belonging to poor sections a campaign “Tehrike Taleem” is being launched. Under which every needy person will be provided resources and facilities.

During the last three years, the Ministry has created infrastructure development projects such as 33 Degree Colleges; 1102 school building; 15,869 additional class rooms; 676 hostels; 97 ITIs; 16 Polytechnics; 1952 drinking water facilities; 8532 Aanganwadi Centres; 2090 health centres; 223 Sadbhav Mandaps (during last 6 months); 18 Gurkul type residential schools (in last six months). Besides, 47,986 pucca houses have been constructed under PM Awas Yojana.

During the last three years, scholarships worth Rs 4740 crore were given to 1.82 crore students. Rs 116 crore were given to 32,705 students under free coaching scheme for competitive exams, while Rs 166 crore were distributed among 1,38,426 girl students under “Begum Hazrat Mahal Scholarship. Money of all these scholarships have been transferred directly into bank accounts of the students through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode leaving no room for any leakage.

Shri Naqvi said that during the last three years, over 5.2 lakh youths including about 40 per cent women, have been covered under various job-oriented skill training schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs at an expenditure of Rs 578 crore. Under “Seekho aur Kamao”, over 2 lakh youths have been provided employment oriented skill training and employment with an expenditure of more than Rs 300 crore; 1.99 lakh women have been provided various leadership development training under “Nai Roshni” and 70,000 youths have been covered for training and employment opportunities under “Nai Manzil” scheme. Thousands of Minority communities’ schools and Madrasas have been connected with “3T”- Teachers, Tiffin and Toilets during last three months. These educational institutions also include institutions run by Gurudwaras and those run by Jain, Buddhist and Parsi community.

The Minister of State (I/C) for Minority Affairs said that while on one hand “Progress Panchayat” have proved to be a strong mission to fulfil our commitment to “Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas” and “Antyodaya”, on the other hand “Hunar Haat” is providing encouragement, market and opportunity to master artisans belonging to Minority communities. Two “Hunar Haat” have been organised by the Ministry so far. More than 35 lakh people (about 26 lakh visitors at Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Connaught Place, about 9 lakh visitors at Pragati Maidan) visited these two “Hunar Haat”.

Shri Naqvi said that with the theme “Craft Aur Cuisine Ka Sangam”, the second “Hunar Haat” was unique in the sense that it showcased crafts and traditional cuisines brought from different parts of the country at “Bawarchikhana”. The first “Hunar Haat” had been organized from 14 to 27th November at India International Trade Fair in November 2016. After huge success of these two “Hunar Haat”, the Minority Affairs Ministry has decided to establish “Hunar Hub”, to organize such events, in every state. Several states have come forward to provide land for the project. Next “Hunar Haat” will be organized at Puducherry, Mumbai, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Gauhati, Ahmedabad, Jaipur.

Shri Naqvi said that joining “Digital India” campaign launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has made all its schemes and programmes digital/online. Even entire Haj process has been made online this time and also a Haj mobile app has been launched. A total of 1lakh 70 thousand pilgrims will go to Haj from India this year. Saudi Arabia Government has increased India’s Haj quota by 34,005. It’s a significant increase in our country’s Haj quota after several years.

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