Create Minorities Sub-Plan: Shabbir Ali

Former minister and MLC Mohammad Ali Shabbir on Thursday demanded that the Centre introduce a separate sub-plan for minorities in the country on the lines of the SC-ST Sub-Plan.

In separate letters sent to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, AICC president Sonia Gandhi, AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahulwalia and other union ministers, Shabbir Ali said that the Centre should take serious measures to introduce the minorities sub-plan.

In his four-page letter, Shabbir Ali stressed on four major issues - the minorities sub-plan, 4.5% quota for Muslims, increase in budget for minorities' welfare, and proper implementation of welfare schemes.

He said that it was the Planning Commission that originally proposed a sub-plan for SC-STs in 1976, but that a similar recommendation made by the working group on "empowerment of the minorities" was rejected by the Planning Commission in 2006.

"In order to introduce the sub-plan in the 13th five-year plan, the Planning Commission should include this demand as the terms of reference for the working group on Empowerment of the Minorities," he said.

Shabbir Ali contended that there was no focused development of minorities, especially Muslims, in India since independence. "In 1980, a High Level Dr. Gopal Singh Committee was set up to study the condition of minorities, and it led to the introduction of the the Prime Minister's 15-Point Programme in 1983.

"The then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi addressed a letter to the Chief Ministers in May 1983 containing certain points to ensure the economic, social and educational development of the minorities. These points were reiterated by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in his letter dated 28th August, 1985, addressed to all the Chief Ministers," he said.

"However, despite serious attempts made by the Congress Governments at the Centre, the development of Minorities remains a matter of concern," he stated.

The Congress MLC said that there has been an improvement in the condition of minorities since the creation of the ministry of Minority Affairs on 29 January 2006. Further, the recommendations made by the Sachar Committee too led to the introduction of several minority welfare schemes, including the introduction of the Prime Minister's New 15-Point Programme, he observed.

"As far as the Prime Minister's 15-Point Programme is concerned, there are no mandatory powers, and they are only advisory in nature. Further, it needs to have clear-cut policy directions for its effective implementation, which should have a strong political will among the states because the state minority commissions have no statutory powers to address religious minority issues. Further, in states like Gujarat, there is no mechanism to disburse the benefits of welfare schemes among the minorities," Shabbir Ali said.

Shabbir Ali also complained that the Chief Secretaries, who are the presiding officers in the states to conduct meetings to review the implementation of the PM's 15-point program, were not conducting the meetings on a regular basis.

"There is a lack of a serious approach in the implementation of programmes, which was admitted by the union ministry of Minority Affairs on multiple occasions," he said, adding that all the problems can be addressed only through the introduction of a minorities sub-plan.

He further stated that the 4% Muslim reservation had changed the lives of lakhs of Muslims in Andhra Pradesh. While thousands of students are getting admission in professional colleges due to reservation, hundreds of them got jobs, and it also led to their political empowerment. The Centre can emulate the Andhra Pradesh model in implementing 4.5% quota at the national level. It can create a separate category like the BC-E, created by AP government, to overcome legal hurdles," he said.

Shabbir Ali also demanded that the budget for Minorities Welfare be increased to Rs. 20,000 crore per annum. "In this year's budget, the Union Finance Ministry has allocated Rs. 3,511 crore to the Minorities Affairs Ministry. Although the allocation has been enhanced by about 12% compared to last year, it is inadequate for the welfare of about 19% of the population, including 13.4% Muslims. The government of AP is spending over Rs. 1,000 crore for about 80 lakh Muslims, but the national spending on about 17 crore Muslims is just Rs. 3,511 crore," he said.

He also demanded that serious measures be taken to ensure the proper and effective implementation of welfare schemes for minorities in the country. (INN)