Hyderabad, July 08: Reiterating his government’s commitment to the welfare of the Minorities, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that positive steps are being taken on the issue of providing reservations to the Muslim community in the country.
Dr Manmohan Singh gave this assurance in the form of a letter addressed to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, copies of which were released to the media on Thursday.
The Prime Minster said that efforts are on to create a ‘broad-based national consensus to move forward on the matter of providing reservations to the members of the Muslim community’ in his letter.
MLC and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind president Hafiz Peer Shabbir Ahmed said that Dr Manmohan Singh had written a letter addressed to Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind National president Moulana Qari Mohammed Usman Mansoorpuri in which he had said “I would like to assure you that our Government is committed to the welfare of the minorities. We appointed the Justice Sachar Committee to go into the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India and have acted swiftly on its recommendations”.
The Prime Minister’s letter came after a delegation of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind called on him and All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi on May 22. The delegation had submitted a memorandum to them on the issues of Muslim Reservations and amendment in the proposed Communal Violence Bill.
Responding to the representation, the Prime Minister further said “As far as the Communal Violence Bill is concerned, the Home Ministry is in the process of engaging in further consultations so as to build a meaningful consensus on the matter at the earliest.”
Copies of the Prime Minister’s letter were circulated in the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind National Executive meeting held recently in New Delhi.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind meeting had welcomed the initiatives of the Government and expressed its satisfaction over the developments and felt the need of settlement of these issues at the earliest.
The Prime Minister’s letter highlighted the steps of the Union government as regards to the welfare of Muslim community and said that the budget for the Ministry of Minority affairs has gone up from Rs 500 crore in 2007 to Rs 2600 crore in 2010-11.
The letter added that, every year more than 20 lakh students belonging to minority communities are given scholarships to study in schools, colleges and universities, the letter said and added that more than Rs 2,000 crore have been sanctioned for special development plans in more than 80 minority concentrated districts.
The letter further pointed out “The PM’s 15 point Programme is aimed at ensuring that at least 15 per cent of benefits of selected Government of India schemes go to minorities.”
Dr Manmohan Singh in his letter stated that, “The flow of priority sector bank credit to minorities has increased from Rs 58,000 crore in 2007-08 to over Rs 1,00,000 crore in 2009-10. This will be increased to reach 15 per cent of total priority sector lending by banks.”
He further said that the recruitment of minorities in Government and Public Sector Undertakings including banks has increased over the past 3 years.
Moulana Hafiz Peer Shabbir Ahmed said that he hoped that the UPA Government will not only continue these welfare measures but also increase the quantum of funds for this purpose in the years to come so that the Muslim minorities also share the fruits of development and progress along with other brethren of the country.
——–INN