New Delhi: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday expressed concern over recent communal riots, though without naming the state where they occurred, saying that such incidents are tarnishing the image of the country as a secular society.
“In most parts of the country, the relationship between majority and minority communities is harmonious, although there have been instances where this relationship has been put to severe test, especially of late,” the Prime Minister said possibly Muzaffarnagar riots in his mind.
“These aberrations tarnish the image of our country and our society. They also disrupt the ability of large sections of our society to contribute to the rapid economic progress of our country,” he said while inaugurating the Conference of State Minorities Commissions here.
Dr Singh said to maintain communal harmony, both majority communities and minorities had to work together to create an atmosphere of acceptance and harmony.
He sought to underline that pluralism was the keystone of India’s civilisation and culture, and religious harmony, not mere tolerance, was the bedrock of India’s secularism.
Dr Singh expressed his government’s commitment to make every possible effort to protect and promote secular values and provide equality of opportunity to all religious minorities.
The Prime Minister in this context mentioned various programmes and schemes of his government like the new 15-point programme for minorities that had been launched for the protection and development of minorities.
Dr Singh pointed out that the focus of the programme was to ensure that the benefits of various development schemes and programmes of the government accrued in equitable measure to minorities, especially those located in minority concentration areas.
Moreover, wherever possible, 15 per cent of the targets and outlays under various poverty alleviation schemes were required to be earmarked for minorities, and their reasonable representation was also expected to be ensured in the government, including the public sector enterprises.
Coming to the Sachar Committee report, he said his government had accepted 72 of the 76 recommendations made by the Committee and 43 decisions had been taken by the Ministries concerned to implement these 72 recommendations.
However, on remaining four recommendations, action was taken but the matter was now sub judice. Many of the concerns raised by the Sachar Committee had also been addressed by the Prime Minister’s new 15-point programme, he added.
Dr Singh made special mention of the multi-sectoral development programme which was launched in 2008-09 in pursuance of the Sachar Committee recommendations to address the development deficit in 90 minority concentration districts across the country.
The Prime Minister said the fund allotted for the programme in the 11th Plan was more than Rs 3,700 crore which had been enhanced to about Rs 5,800 crore in the 12th Plan. From 2013-14, the unit for planning and implementing the programme has been changed from a district to a block and it now covers 710 minority concentration blocks. Additionally 66 minority concentration towns (MCTs) have also been identified for coverage under the programme.
Since its launch, the programme has been able to create substantial infrastructure in the targeted districts including school buildings, hostels, primary health centres, anganwadi centres, ITIs and polytechnics.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that priority sector lending to minorities by banks has increased from about Rs 59,000 crore in 2007-08 to about Rs 1,85,000 crore in 2012-13. The share of minorities in recruitment in Centre and Central Public Sector Enterprises has gone up from 6.9 per cent in 2006-07 to 7.4 per cent in 2012-13.
He also spoke about various institutions like the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC), the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI), the Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF), the Central Waqf Council and the National Commission for Backward Classes that had been established to ensure social, economic, educational development of minorities.
Dr Singh said the success of all these efforts was dependent on to a large extent on the cooperation of states, and if both the Central and state governments worked in tandem, the implementation of these programmes could be made more effective. (UNI)
