Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme

• 20 Mar 2020

Why in News

Recently, the Union Minister of Minority Affairs shared information about the Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities (PM’s New 15 PP), in the Lok Sabha.

Key Points

• PM’s New 15 PP is an overarching programme covering various schemes/initiatives of the participating Ministries/Departments and is implemented throughout the country.
• Aim:
  
  • To ensure that the benefits of various government schemes for the underprivileged reach the disadvantaged sections of the minority communities.
  • It also provides that, wherever possible, 15% of targets and outlays under various schemes should be earmarked for minorities.
• The performance of schemes/initiatives is continuously evaluated by the concerned Ministries/Departments.
• In the context of the PM’s New 15 PP, Substantial minority population, has been used for identification of districts which are relatively backward.
  
  • Districts with at least 25% of the total population belonging to minority communities have been identified as the Minority Concentration Districts (MCDs)
• The programme has four objectives further divided into focus areas with schemes under them. These are as follows:

A. Enhancing Opportunities for Education

1. Equitable availability of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Services

2. Improving access to School Education

a. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

b. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme, etc.

3. Greater resources for teaching Urdu by Central assistance for recruitment and posting of Urdu language teachers.

4. Modernizing Madarsa Education

a. Central Plan Scheme of Area Intensive and Madarsa Modernization Programme.

5. Scholarships for meritorious students from minority communities.

6. Improving educational infrastructure through the Maulana Azad Education Foundation.

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

a. Locate technical institutions in areas predominantly inhabited by minority communities and upgrade them to ‘Centres of Excellence’.

9. Enhanced credit support for economic activities

a. Strengthening the National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC).

b. Ensuring an appropriate percentage of the priority sector lending targeted for the minority communities.

10. Recruitment to State and Central Services

C. Improving the Conditions of Living of Minorities

11. Equitable share in rural housing scheme

a. Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)

12. Improvement in condition of slums inhabited by minority communities

a. Integrated Housing & Slum Development Programme (IHSDP)

b. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) which was earlier Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

D. Prevention and Control of Communal Riots

13. Prevention of communal incidents

a. Posting of efficient, impartial and secular record in communally sensitive and riot prone areas.

14. Prosecution for communal offences

15. Rehabilitation of victims of communal riots

Minorities

• Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Zoroastrians (Parsis) have been notified as minority communities under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
• Constitutional Provisions:
  
  • The term "minority" is not defined in the Indian Constitution. However, the Constitution recognises only religious and linguistic minorities.
  • Article 29: It provides that any section of the citizens residing in any part of India having a distinct language, script or culture of its own, shall have the right to conserve the same.
  • Article 30: Under the article, all minorities shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
  • Article 350-B: Originally, the Constitution of India did not make any provision with respect to the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities. But, the Seventh Constitutional Amendment Act of 1956 inserted Article 350-B in the Constitution.
• Parliamentary Provisions:
  
  • National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992
    
    • It defines a minority as “a community notified as such by the Central government.''

Source: PIB