The population of Parsis (Zoroastrians), a notified minority community under the National Commission of Minorities Act 1992, has declined from 1,14,000 in 1941 to 57,264 in 2011 as per census data. In order to arrest the decline in population and reverse the trend, the Government of India through the Ministry of Minority Affairs launched the Jiyo Parsi Scheme in 2013-14. The scheme has three components:

i) Medical Assistance – to provide financial assistance to Parsi couples for treatment for infertility, pregnancy complications and new-born complications; this is available to Parsi couples with annual family income upto Rs 30 lakh.

ii) Health of Community – to provide financial assistance to Parsi couples towards care of children and dependent elderly family members; this is available to Parsi couples with annual family income upto Rs 15 lakh.

iii) Advocacy – to create awareness about the benefits available under the scheme.

The assistance under the scheme is being released to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode after biometric authentication and other verifications by the respective State Governments.

During the last 5 years (i.e., 2020-21 to 2024-25), expenditure of Rs 17.64 crore was incurred and 232 babies were born under the scheme.

An evaluation study of the scheme was conducted by International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) during 2025. According to the report submitted by IIPS, the scheme has been largely successful in reaching its intended population and there was a near-universal acknowledgement among the respondents about the usefulness of the scheme in increasing the Parsi population.

The scheme is being considered for continuation during the next Finance Commission cycle.

This information was given by Union Minister of Minority Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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AK/MR