Chandigarh: National Commission for Minorities (NCM) will be writing to the Haryana government for setting up state minority commission, its member Syed Shahezadi said here on Thursday. "We will write to the Haryana government to set up State Minorities Commission," Shahezadi told a news conference here.
She said that the issue regarding setting up of a state commission came during her meeting here with a group of spiritual leaders. "During the meeting with spiritual leaders, they said if such a commission is set up, there can be representation from all minority communities in it," she said.
It was found that there is less awareness regarding central and state schemes among the minorities, she said, adding during her meeting with senior officers of the government, the NCM asked them to publish a booklet and also print a photograph of district magistrate and hold programmes for generating more awareness.
During meeting with spiritual leaders, they pointed out that some people are facing difficulties in getting minority certificates, she said. "We have told the government here that a particular minority should be mentioned in the family ID (state govt's Parivar Pehchan Patra), as this can be of help to the minorities," she said.
Another issue which came up was that there is no Buddhist temple in the state and the government has been asked to look into this, she said. The government has also been told by NCM to appoint a minority welfare officer in every district.
During her two-day visit to the state from Wednesday, Shahezadi chaired a review meeting for the implementation of prime minister's new 15-point programme and schemes with Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal, Minorities Welfare Secretary Rajeev Ranjan, and other officers of the state government.
The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs is implementing the PM's 15-point programme for welfare of minority communities. It is an overarching programme which covers various schemes and initiatives of the participating Ministries/Departments with an aim to ensure that the underprivileged and weaker sections of six centrally notified minority communities have equal opportunities for availing the various government welfare schemes and contribute to the overall socio-economic development of the country, according to an official statement.
The NCM member also chaired a meeting with prominent spiritual leaders of the minority community and discussed various issues related to the community. She also called on Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya and discussed various issues for the upliftment of the minority communities in the state.
According to 2011 census, population of minorities in Haryana is 35 lakh, Shahezadi said. She mentioned about the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) that seeks to provide better socio-economic infrastructure facilities to the minority communities, particularly in the field of education, health and skill development.
Various projects under PMJVK are running in seven minority concentrated areas like Sirsa, Nuh, Mewat, Palwal, Yamunanagar, she said. Pre-matric scholarships worth Rs 20.47 crore have been sanctioned for 57,761 minority students and post-matric scholarships have been sanctioned for 33,483 students, for which Rs 22.7 crore has been released, she said.
Nine industrial training institutes in Mewat, one in Palwal, four in Sirsa, three in Yamunanagar, three in Fatehabad and one in Kaithal are running in minority concentrated areas, Shahezadi added. (PTI)
