GUIDELINES for implementation of
Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme
for the Welfare of Minorities..!
The Hon’ble President, in his address to the Joint Session of
Parliament on February 25, 2005, had announced that the Government would recast
the 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities with a view to incorporate
programme specific interventions.
Prime Minister, in his address on the occasion of Independence
Day, 2005, announced inter-alia that “We will also revise and revamp the 15
Point Programme for Minorities. The new 15 Point Programme will have definite
goals which are to be achieved in a specific time frame”. In pursuance of these
commitments, the earlier programme has been revised as the Prime Minister’s New
15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities. A copy of the programme is
enclosed.
2. The objectives of the programme are as follows:-
a) Enhancing opportunities for education.
b) Ensuring an equitable share for minorities in economic
activities and employment, through existing and new schemes, enhanced credit
support for self-employment, and recruitment to State and Central Government
jobs.
c) Improving the conditions of living of minorities by ensuring an
appropriate share for them in infrastructure development schemes.
d) Prevention and control of communal disharmony and violence.
3. An important aim of the new programme is to ensure that the
benefits of various government schemes for the underprivileged reach the
disadvantaged sections of the minority communities.
The underprivileged among the minorities are, of course, included
in the target groups of various government schemes. But in order to ensure that
the benefits of these schemes flow equitably to minorities, the new programme
envisages location of a certain proportion of development projects in minority
concentration areas. It also provides that, wherever possible, 15% of targets
and outlays under various schemes should be earmarked for minorities.
4. The emphasis of the programme on the maintenance of communal
peace and harmony, through appropriate measures, and ensuring a reasonable
representation of minorities in government, including the public sector,
remains as emphatic as ever and these continue to be important constituents of
the new programme.
5. The programme does not envisage any change or relaxation of any
criteria, norms or eligibility conditions in any scheme for minorities. These
would continue to be as provided for in the original schemes included in the
programme.
6. The term ‘substantial minority population’ in the 15 Point
Programme applies to such districts/sub-district units where at least 25% of
the total population of that unit belongs to minority communities.
7.
(a) The target group of the programme consists of the eligible sections among
the minorities notified under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for
Minorities Act, 1992, viz, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and
Zoroastrians (Parsis).
(b)
In States, where one of the minority communities notified under Section 2
(c)
of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 is, in fact, in majority,
the earmarking of physical/financial targets under different schemes will be
only for the other notified minorities. These states are Jammu & Kashmir,
Punjab, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. Lakshadweep is the only Union
Territory in this group.
8. The
new programme will be implemented by Central Ministries / Departments concerned
through State Governments / Union Territories. Each Ministry/Department
concerned shall appoint a nodal officer, not below the rank of a Joint
Secretary to Government of India, for this programme. The Ministry of Minority
Affairs shall be the nodal Ministry for this programme.
9. Physical
Targets and Financial Outlays:
Considering
the complexity of the programme and its wide reach, wherever possible,
Ministries/Departments concerned will earmark 15 percent of the physical
targets and financial outlays for minorities. These will be distributed between
States/UTs on the basis of the proportion of Below Poverty Line (BPL)
population of minorities in a particular State/Union Territory to the total BPL
population of minorities in the country, subject to the following:-
(a)
(i) For schemes applicable exclusively to rural areas, only the ratio relevant
to the BPL minority population in rural areas would be considered.
(ii)
For schemes applicable exclusively to urban areas, only the ratio relevant to
the BPL minority population of urban areas would be considered.
(iii)
For others, where such differentiation is not possible, the total would be
considered.
(b)
For States / UT referred to in para 7 (b), the earmarking will only be for the
BPL minorities, other than that in majority.
10. The
schemes amenable to such earmarking are the following:-
Point
No. (A) Enhancing opportunities for Education
(1)
Equitable availability of ICDS Services
Integrated
Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme by providing services through
Anganwadi Centres
(2)
Improving access to School Education
Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme, and other similar
Government schemes.
Point No. (B) Equitable
Share in Economic Activities and Employment
(7)
Self-Employment and Wage Employment for the poor
(a)
Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY)
(b)
Swarn Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY)
(c)
Sampurna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
(8)
Upgradation of skills through technical training
New
Industrial training Institutes (ITI) and upgradation of existing ITI.
(9) Enhanced credit support for
economic activities
(b) Bank
credit under priority sector lending.
Point
No. (C) Improving the conditions of living of minorities
(11)
Equitable share in rural housing scheme
Indira
Awaas Yojana (IAY)
(12)
Improvement in condition of slums inhabited by minority communities
Integrated
Housing & Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) and Jawaharlal Nehru National
Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)
11. Implementation, Monitoring and
Reporting –
A. Ministry
/ Department Level:
Ministries
/ Departments implementing the schemes, included in the programme shall
continue to implement and monitor these schemes with reference to the physical
targets and financial outlays. They are expected to review the progress of the
programme on a monthly basis and report the progress of implementation, in
respect of the schemes under this programme, on a quarterly basis, by the
fifteenth day of next quarter, to the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
B. State
/ UT Level:
(i)
States / UTs are expected to constitute a State Level Committee for
Implementation of the Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare
of Minorities headed by the Chief Secretary with members consisting of the
Secretaries and Heads of Departments implementing the schemes under the 15
Point Programme, representatives from the Panchayati Raj
Institutions/Autonomous District Councils, three representatives from reputed
non-governmental institutions dealing with minorities and three such other
members considered appropriate by the state government/UT administration.
The
Department dealing with Minorities of the State/UT may be made the nodal
department for monitoring the 15 Point Programme. The Committee should meet at
least once every quarter and the Department dealing with Minorities of the
State/UT may send a quarterly progress reports to the Ministry of Minority
Affairs by the 15th day of the next quarter.
(ii) District
Level:
Similarly,
at the district level, a District Level Committee for Implementation of the
Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities may be
constituted headed by the Collector/Deputy Commissioner of the district, with
District level officers of the departments implementing the programme,
representatives from the Panchayati Raj Institutions/Autonomous District
Councils, and three representatives from reputed institutions dealing with
minorities. The District Level Committee shall report progress of
implementation to the Department dealing with Minorities of the state
government/UT administration for placing it before the State Level Committee.
C. Central Level:
(i) At
the central level, the progress of implementation, with reference to targets,
will be monitored once in six months by a Committee of Secretaries (COS), and a
report will be submitted to the Union Cabinet. The Ministry of
Minority
Affairs shall be the nodal Ministry to prepare reports in this regard for
placing before the COS and the Union Cabinet once in six months. All
Ministries/Departments concerned with this programme shall submit quarterly
reports to the Ministry of Minority Affairs by the 15th day
of the next quarter.
(ii) There
shall be a Review Committee for the Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for
the Welfare of the Minorities headed by Secretary, Ministry of Minority
Affairs, with nodal officers from all the Ministries/Department concerned which
shall meet at least once every quarter to review the progress, obtain feedback
and resolve problems and provide clarifications, as might be needed.
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