Who are minorities and what benefits do they get?

The term 'minority' has been defined under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, which states that a 'minority' is a community notified as such by the Central Government. While the Act does not exactly define the term 'minority', it says that the Centre would notify and designate those who are minorities. As of now, six communities - Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains - come under the minority section in India.

These six minority communities are entitled to various socio-economic and educational schemes that have been implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs. Below is the list of schemes:

1. Educational schemes

(i) Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme – for Class I to X.

(ii) Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme – for Class XI to PhD.

(iii) Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme – for professional and technical courses.

(iv) Maulana Azad National Fellowship – for MPhil and PhD.

(v) Free Coaching and Allied Scheme (Naya Savera) – for competitive examinations of professional courses and government jobs.

(vi) Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship for Meritorious Girls belonging to minority communities (vii) 'Padho Pardesh' – scheme for interest subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies.

(viii) Nai Udaan – support for students to clear preliminary exams conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the State Public Service Commission (SPSC) etc.

2. Economic schemes

(i) Employment-oriented skill development initiatives – Seekho Aur Kamao is a placement-linked skill development programme.

(ii) Nai Manzil – a scheme for formal school education and skilling of school dropouts

(iii) Gharib Nawaz Employment Training – it's for providing short-term job-oriented skill development courses to youths belonging to minority communities.

(iv) National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation – it provides concessional loans to minorities for self-employment and income-generating ventures.

3. Socio-economic schemes

(i) Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram – it is an area development scheme. The Ministry has identified 1,300 backward Minority Concentration Areas (MCAs) for the implementation of this scheme. It is a centrally-sponsored scheme for creating socio-economic infrastructure as well as basic amenities for uplifting the quality of life of minorities in the MCAs. The amenities are meant for all segments of society, including minorities. The thrust of the scheme is to allocate at least 80% of the resources towards education, health and skill development, out of which 33-40% are to be specifically allocated for women-centric projects.

(ii) Naya Savera Scheme – it assists students or candidates belonging to minority communities with special coaching for competitive examinations for recruitment to Group A, B and C services and other equivalent posts under the Central and state governments, including Public Sector Undertakings, banks, railways etc. as well as for admission to technical and professional courses.

(iii) Nai Udaan Scheme – it provides financial support to minority candidates who clear preliminary examinations conducted by the UPSC, the SSC and the SPSC.

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