Minorities

• In a very general sense, we can say that when a group of people is divided on any issue or approach or characteristic the difference usually produces a bigger sub-group and a smaller sub-group. The smaller sub-group is called the minority whereas the bigger sub-group is called the majority. It is also possible that the two groups could be of equal strength or the smaller group may have control over power and other resources. So, it is not always the numerical strength or non-strength, which is the deciding factor for a group to be called a minority.
• It is now widely felt that population size is not the only feature of minority status. If a group is discriminated against on the basis of religion, race or culture it can be considered a minority group.
• The UN sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities set up under the Human Rights Commission which drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, has defined minorities as only those non-dominant groups in a population that possess or wish to preserve stable, ethnic, religious or linguistic traditions or characteristics markedly different from those of the most of the population.
• In the International Encyclopaedia of Social Science, Arnold Rose has defined minority without any quantitative connotations. He defines it as a group of people differentiated from others in the same society by race, nationality, religion or language, who think of themselves as a differentiated group and are thought of by others as a differentiated group with negative connotations. Further, they are relatively lacking in power and hence are subjected to certain exclusions, discrimination and other differential treatments.’

Notified Minorities in India

• Currently, only those communities notified under section 2(c) of the NCM Act, 1992 by the central government are regarded as minorities.
• In 1993, the first statutory National Commission was set up, and five religious communities Viz. The Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians (Parsis) were notified as minority communities.
• In 2014, Jains were also notified as a minority community.
• The expression “minorities” appears in some Articles of the Constitution, but is not defined anywhere.

What does the Constitution say about minorities?

Article 29: it deals with the “Protection of Interests of Minorities” says that any section of citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script, or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same, and that ” no citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the state or receiving aid out of state funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.

Article 30: Article 30 deals with the “right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions. It says that all minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

Article 350(A):  It says there shall be a Special Officer for linguistic minorities to be appointed by the President. It shall be the duty of the special officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities.

Problems Faced by Minorities in India

• Problem of Identity
• Problem of Security
• Problem of Equity

Problem of Identity

Because of the differences in socio-cultural practices, history and backgrounds, minorities have to grapple with the issue of identity everywhere which give rise to the problem of adjustment with the majority community.

Problem of Security

Different identity and their small number relative to the rest of society develop a feeling of insecurity about their life, assets and well-being. This sense of insecurity may get accentuated at times when relations between the majority and the minority communities in society are strained or not much cordial.

Problem Relating to Equity

The minority community in a society may remain deprived of the benefit of opportunities of development as a result of discrimination. Because of the difference in identity, the minority community develops the perception of the sense of inequity.

Rajendra Sachar committee  findings

Education-

• The literacy rate among Muslims in 2001 was 59.1%, below the national average (64.8%).
• Only 4% of Muslims  are graduates while the national average is 7%

Employment-

• Worker population ratios for Muslims are significantly lower than for all other SRCs in rural areas, but only marginally lower in urban areas. The lower ratios are mainly due to much lower participation in economic activity by Muslim women.
• The most striking feature is the relatively high percentage of Muslim workers engaged in self-employment.

• Participation of Muslim salaried workers in both the public and private sectors is quite low.
• The average salary of Muslim workers is lower than others
• Participation of Muslim workers in the informal sector is much higher than the average population,

Access to Bank Credit-

Bank	Muslims	Other minorities	Others
Private banks	6.6	7.9	85.5
Govt banks	4.6	6.3	89.1

Access to Social and Physical Infrastructure

• About one-third of small villages with a high concentration of Muslims do not have any educational institutions.
• About 40% of large villages with a substantial Muslim concentration do not have any medical facilities.

Poverty, Consumption and Standards of Living

Muslims face fairly high levels of poverty. Their conditions on the whole are only slightly better than those of SCs/STS, though slightly worse in urban areas. According to NSSO data, overall 22.7% of India’s population was poor in 2004-05 (251 million people), with SC/STs together as the worst off (at 35%), followed by Muslims at 31%.

Approaches Toward Problems of Minorities

• Many scholars have tried to understand the problems of minorities in various ways.
• Some consider, that ethnic identity among minority groups is natural and primordial.
• The scholars who stress the cultural differences say that primordialism and linguistic differences among minority groups tend to generate conflict rather than cooperation among them.
• Other scholars consider the utilitarian bent of minority groups and state that it is representing a power struggle. They feel that cultural factors are incidental to this process.
• These scholars feel that the minority identity should be seen in the context of development where each group tries to forge an identity in its Struggle for scarce resources.
• Various Approaches have been adopted towards a solution for the minority while some suggested assimilation, others suggested protection and for some the way out was to get rid of the minority community itself, by persecution, deportation etc.

Schemes for the Welfare of Minorities

Maulana Azad National Fellowship

• Aim:  To provide integrated 5-year fellowships in the form of financial assistance to students from minority communities, as notified by the Central Government to pursue higher studies such as M. Phil and Ph.D.
• The Fellowship will cover all Universities/Institutions recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and will be implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs through UGC for students belonging to minority communities.
• Fellowships awarded to research students pursuing regular and full-time M. Phil and Ph. D courses. The fellowship holders under this Fellowship will be known as Ministry of Minority Affairs scholars.
• UGS will be the nodal agency for the scheme

Padho Pardes

• Eligibility: Students belonging to minority communities pursuing higher studies abroad.
• Interest subsidy will be granted for a period of moratorium (i.e., course period, plus one year or six months after getting a job, whichever is earlier) as prescribed under the Education Loan Scheme of the Indian Banks Association (IBA).
• Ministry does not give educational loans under this Scheme. The Scheme provides reimbursement of Interest accrued on the Education Loan taken by a student from a Bank member of IBA for the moratorium period.

USTTAD Scheme

• Aims to preserve the rich heritage of traditional arts/crafts of minorities.

Focus areas

• Capacity building and updating traditional skills of master craftsmen
• Documentation of identified traditional arts/crafts of minorities.
• Set standards for traditional skills
• Hunar Haat is implemented as a component of the USTTAD program providing market access to traditional artisans.

PM VIRASAT KA SAMVADHAN SCHEME (PM VIKAS)

• Aims at socioeconomic empowerment of minorities with special emphasis on artisan communities, women and youth.
• At least 33% of the total beneficiaries are women.

Strategies

1. Provide entrepreneurship and leadership support exclusively to women: Aspiring women entrepreneurs will be provided with a 3-week intensive training on entrepreneurship development module.
2. 10% of these trained women entrepreneurs will be selected to become Business Mentors, based on leadership qualities. They will be provided with 30-day training.

PM Jan Vikas Karyakram

• This scheme has been formed by renaming and restructuring of Multi-sectoral Development Program (MsDP) in 2018.
• Aim: To provide basic infrastructure such as Schools, Colleges, ITIs, Polytechnics, Hostels, Sadbhav Mandap, Skill Development Centres, drinking water and Sanitation facilities, Health Projects including hospitals, Sports facilities, Smart classrooms, Aanganwadi centres etc. in deprived areas of the country.

Humari Dharohar Scheme

There is a dire need to cooperate with the rich heritage and culture of minorities and aid calligraphy and related artefacts.

Purpose

• Protecting the rich heritage of minorities
• Curate iconic exhibitions.
• Protection of literature/documents.
• Support and promotion of calligraphy etc.
• Documentation of oral tradition/art forms

Nai Manzil Scheme

• It aims to benefit minority youth of 17-35 years of age, who do not have formal school leaving certificates (school dropouts) or those educated in community educational institutions like Madrassas.

Scheme for short-term job-oriented skill development courses for youth in minority communities Empanelled Program Implementation Agencies will train the beneficiaries.
Gharib Nawaz Scheme	Scheme for short term job-oriented skill development courses for youth in minority communities Empanelled Program Implementation Agencies will train the beneficiaries.
SHADI SHAGUN YOJANA	A scheme to arrest the decline of the population of Parsis in India. Interventions under it are: 1.   Advocacy: Counselling couples 2.   Financial assistance to Parsi parents 3.   Financial assistance for Assisted Reproductive Technologies.
NAYA SAVERA	Aims to assist students belonging to notified minority communities through coaching for qualifying in competitive exams for admission in technical and professional courses and for recruitment to Group A, B and C services under Central and State governments including PSUs. Assistance is also provided one year and two-year residential coaching to minority students in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics who are class XI and class XII or passed class XII with 75% marks Minority students’ annual family income be less than 6 lakhs. 30% of beneficiaries are female.
NAI UDAAN	Aims to provide financial support to minority students who clear preliminary examinations conducted by UPSC, SSC, and State PSCs and whose family income is less than Rs 8 lakhs. Financial support under the scheme is available only once. (1 Lakh for clearing Prelim’s exams of UPSC, Rs 50,000 for clearing prelims of State PSCs, Rs 25,000 for clearing prelims of SSC exams.
NAYI ROSHNI	Aims to empower and instil confidence among minority women by providing knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with Government systems, banks and other institutions at all levels. Minority women are provided 6 days training program based on modules followed by handholding for a period of 1 year. Implemented through NGOs empanelled.
JIYO PARSI	A scheme to arrest the decline of the population of Parsis in India. Interventions under it are: 1.   Advocacy: Counselling couples 2.   Financial assistance to Parsi parents 3.            Financial assistance for Assisted Reproductive Technologies.
SEEKHO AUR KAMAO	The skill development scheme for the youth of 14 – 45 years age group and aiming at providing employment and employment opportunities, improving the employability of existing workers, school dropouts etc. Ensured placement of a minimum of 75% trainees, out of which at least 50% were placed in organised sector. 33% of beneficiaries are women.