Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri K. Rahman Khan has emphasized on the effective implementation of Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme and Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP). Chairing the one day Conference of Principal Secretaries and Secretaries of States and UTs to review the implementation of Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme and Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) here in New Delhi today the minister said the purpose is to ensure equitable share for minorities in important schemes of the Government, whereas MsDP provides resources for those projects which are crucial for the development of the minorities but could not be taken up due to inadequate resources under the existing schemes of the Government or not falling within the guidelines of the existing schemes.
The minister said both the 15 Point Programme and MsDP should be implemented with a lot of synergy so that the benefit goes to the minority communities in the maximum possible way. It is also pertinent to note here that most of the schemes of 15 Point Programme as well as MsDP are implemented through the State Governments and therefore, the role of States and UTs is very important for the success of these Programmes.
Shri Khan referred to the Sachar Committee report in which the backwardness of Muslim Community in social, economic and educational status has been pointed out. As per the Census 2001, the literacy rate among Muslims was 59.1%, which was much below the national average of 64.8%. Less than 4% of Muslims were graduate or diploma holders compared to about 7% of the population aged20 and above. The work population ratio for Muslim women was the lowest amongst all socio-religious communities. The percentage of household availing banking facilities was much lower in villages where the share of Muslims population was high.
Applauding the series of follow up action taken by the Government on the recommendations of Sachar Committee Report, the minister said we can see some positive impact on the ground situation. As per the India Human Development Report of the Planning Commission, literacy rate among Muslims has registered a marked improvement from 52.1% in 1999-2000 to 63.5% in 2007-08 for rural areas and from 69.8% to 75.1% for urban areas. The literacy rate of Muslims as ratio of national average has gone up from 0.93 in 1999-2000 to 0.95 in 2007-08 for rural areas and from 0.87 to 0.89 in urban areas. The Priority Sector Lending to minority communities has shown a marked improvement from 10.6% of total Priority Sector Lending in 2007-08 to 14.59% in 2012-13.
The Minister informed that 15 Point Programme and MsDP have done an appreciable task during the last five to six years. Since 2006-07 till 2012-13, more than 33,000 new Primary and Upper Primary Schools have been opened in districts with substantial minority population under 15 Point Programme. In the same period, about 23800 Primary and Upper Primary Schools were constructed and 555 new Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas have been sanctioned in such districts. Further, more than 22 lakh IAY houses have been constructed for minorities under 15 Point Programme since 2006-07 till 2012-13.
He said under MsDP, projects worth about Rs. 6000 crore have been sanctioned and Rs. 4272 crore has been released to the States and UTs since inception of the programme in 2008 till September 2013 to create socio-economic infrastructure and provide basic amenities in Minority Concentration Areas. More than 700 School Buildings, 18,000 Class Rooms and 562 Hostels for Boys and Girls have been taken up for minorities’ welfare under MsDP. Further 113 ITIs and 44 Polytechnics have been taken up under this programme.
Shri Khan referred to the last conference with the State Governments on these two Programmes held on 8th April 2013 on these two programmes in which proposed restructuring of MsDP and 15 Point Programme. was discussed . He said the restructuring of MsDP has been approved by the Government and the restructured programme has been rolled out. The focus of the programme on the Minority Concentration Areas has been sharpened and the unit of planning has shifted from Districts to Blocks. He expressed the hope that this will help in taking the programme nearer to the minority communities. 710 Blocks have been identified for implementation of this programme during 12th Five year Plan. Further, the programme has been expanded to cover 66 minority concentration towns as a large proportion of minority communities, lives in such towns. Also, the process of project approval has been considerably decentralised to the States.
The Minister said the vision of the restructured MsDP is to implement the programme with full involvement of the minority communities. This is a challenge before the States as well as his Ministry to ensure that the vision of the restructured MsDP is realized. He said Keeping the vision of this programme in mind, we should quickly adapt ourselves to this shift in approach. Block Level Committees (BLC) should be constituted immediately and all plans under MsDP must be formulated by BLC to take care of the local needs of minorities. The minister emphasized the need to make the Block Level Committees functional at the earliest and strengthen the institutional structure at the Block level. The programme also provides for engagement of Block Level facilitators who would serve as bridge between the minority communities and the welfare programmes of the Govt. He requested the State Governments to put the Block Level facilitators in place at the earliestas this would help us to reduce the distance between the minority communities and the different schemes for their welfare.
The Minister highlighted the need to identify the types of projects taken up under MsDP so that our resources are spent in those areas which are crucial for minority development. He said MsDP envisages block and town specific plans prepared with full involvement of minority communities in that block or town. The thrust of the plan under MsDP should be on education, skill development and health as these are the sectors requiring maximum attention for the uplift of the minority communities. Atleast 75% of the allocation under MsDP should be proposed for the projects relating to education, skill development and health. The restructured MsDP gives special focus to the skill training of minority youth by earmarking 10% of the total allotment for this activity. It is important that the skill training is done through reputed and credible training institutes. The Ministry of Minority Affairs is empanelling such institutes for the skill training and the States may conduct the training through them. Otherwise, the States may themselves empanel good training institutes through a transparent process, he added.
Informing that during 11th Plan, Rs. 2936 crore was released by this Ministry to the States/UTs during 11th Plan for the implementation of these projects and 76% of the fund released during 11th Plan is reported to have been utilized by the States the minister said we need to expedite the execution of the remaining projects so that the entire amount released is utilized at the earliest. Special attention is required on the bigger projects like ITIs and Polytechnics. He requested those states who had not sent their plan proposals for the 12th Plan at the earliest.
He said sharpening of the focus on the Minority Concentration Areas mentioned in the context of MsDP, equally applies to 15 Point Prgoramme also as the target earmarked under a particular scheme for minorities in a State should be redistributed to Districts and Blocks keeping in view the BPL Population of the minorities in those Districts and Blocks. Further, even within the Blocks the assets must be so located that the catchment area has atleast 25% minority population.
Shri Rahman khan also laid thrust on the monitoring of programmes. He said to ensure vigilant monitoring of these programmes, the Committees at the Block, District and State level must be fully activated and made functional. There should be greater involvement of the representative of minority communities in all these Committees. Also, the meetings of these Committees must be held regularly. He urged the Principal Secretaries and the Secretaries from the States and UTs to monitor this aspect specifically. He said to take the monitoring of these programmes, closer to the target beneficiaries, the system of social audit has been envisaged in both these programmes. MsDP also provides for constitution of social audit committees at the Block level with the members drawn from the minority communities. He also advised for the constitution of Social Audit Committees at the blocks at the earliest.
Courtesy: Press Information Bureau (pib.nic.in)
The minister said both the 15 Point Programme and MsDP should be implemented with a lot of synergy so that the benefit goes to the minority communities in the maximum possible way. It is also pertinent to note here that most of the schemes of 15 Point Programme as well as MsDP are implemented through the State Governments and therefore, the role of States and UTs is very important for the success of these Programmes.
Shri Khan referred to the Sachar Committee report in which the backwardness of Muslim Community in social, economic and educational status has been pointed out. As per the Census 2001, the literacy rate among Muslims was 59.1%, which was much below the national average of 64.8%. Less than 4% of Muslims were graduate or diploma holders compared to about 7% of the population aged20 and above. The work population ratio for Muslim women was the lowest amongst all socio-religious communities. The percentage of household availing banking facilities was much lower in villages where the share of Muslims population was high.
Applauding the series of follow up action taken by the Government on the recommendations of Sachar Committee Report, the minister said we can see some positive impact on the ground situation. As per the India Human Development Report of the Planning Commission, literacy rate among Muslims has registered a marked improvement from 52.1% in 1999-2000 to 63.5% in 2007-08 for rural areas and from 69.8% to 75.1% for urban areas. The literacy rate of Muslims as ratio of national average has gone up from 0.93 in 1999-2000 to 0.95 in 2007-08 for rural areas and from 0.87 to 0.89 in urban areas. The Priority Sector Lending to minority communities has shown a marked improvement from 10.6% of total Priority Sector Lending in 2007-08 to 14.59% in 2012-13.
The Minister informed that 15 Point Programme and MsDP have done an appreciable task during the last five to six years. Since 2006-07 till 2012-13, more than 33,000 new Primary and Upper Primary Schools have been opened in districts with substantial minority population under 15 Point Programme. In the same period, about 23800 Primary and Upper Primary Schools were constructed and 555 new Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas have been sanctioned in such districts. Further, more than 22 lakh IAY houses have been constructed for minorities under 15 Point Programme since 2006-07 till 2012-13.
He said under MsDP, projects worth about Rs. 6000 crore have been sanctioned and Rs. 4272 crore has been released to the States and UTs since inception of the programme in 2008 till September 2013 to create socio-economic infrastructure and provide basic amenities in Minority Concentration Areas. More than 700 School Buildings, 18,000 Class Rooms and 562 Hostels for Boys and Girls have been taken up for minorities’ welfare under MsDP. Further 113 ITIs and 44 Polytechnics have been taken up under this programme.
Shri Khan referred to the last conference with the State Governments on these two Programmes held on 8th April 2013 on these two programmes in which proposed restructuring of MsDP and 15 Point Programme. was discussed . He said the restructuring of MsDP has been approved by the Government and the restructured programme has been rolled out. The focus of the programme on the Minority Concentration Areas has been sharpened and the unit of planning has shifted from Districts to Blocks. He expressed the hope that this will help in taking the programme nearer to the minority communities. 710 Blocks have been identified for implementation of this programme during 12th Five year Plan. Further, the programme has been expanded to cover 66 minority concentration towns as a large proportion of minority communities, lives in such towns. Also, the process of project approval has been considerably decentralised to the States.
The Minister said the vision of the restructured MsDP is to implement the programme with full involvement of the minority communities. This is a challenge before the States as well as his Ministry to ensure that the vision of the restructured MsDP is realized. He said Keeping the vision of this programme in mind, we should quickly adapt ourselves to this shift in approach. Block Level Committees (BLC) should be constituted immediately and all plans under MsDP must be formulated by BLC to take care of the local needs of minorities. The minister emphasized the need to make the Block Level Committees functional at the earliest and strengthen the institutional structure at the Block level. The programme also provides for engagement of Block Level facilitators who would serve as bridge between the minority communities and the welfare programmes of the Govt. He requested the State Governments to put the Block Level facilitators in place at the earliestas this would help us to reduce the distance between the minority communities and the different schemes for their welfare.
The Minister highlighted the need to identify the types of projects taken up under MsDP so that our resources are spent in those areas which are crucial for minority development. He said MsDP envisages block and town specific plans prepared with full involvement of minority communities in that block or town. The thrust of the plan under MsDP should be on education, skill development and health as these are the sectors requiring maximum attention for the uplift of the minority communities. Atleast 75% of the allocation under MsDP should be proposed for the projects relating to education, skill development and health. The restructured MsDP gives special focus to the skill training of minority youth by earmarking 10% of the total allotment for this activity. It is important that the skill training is done through reputed and credible training institutes. The Ministry of Minority Affairs is empanelling such institutes for the skill training and the States may conduct the training through them. Otherwise, the States may themselves empanel good training institutes through a transparent process, he added.
Informing that during 11th Plan, Rs. 2936 crore was released by this Ministry to the States/UTs during 11th Plan for the implementation of these projects and 76% of the fund released during 11th Plan is reported to have been utilized by the States the minister said we need to expedite the execution of the remaining projects so that the entire amount released is utilized at the earliest. Special attention is required on the bigger projects like ITIs and Polytechnics. He requested those states who had not sent their plan proposals for the 12th Plan at the earliest.
He said sharpening of the focus on the Minority Concentration Areas mentioned in the context of MsDP, equally applies to 15 Point Prgoramme also as the target earmarked under a particular scheme for minorities in a State should be redistributed to Districts and Blocks keeping in view the BPL Population of the minorities in those Districts and Blocks. Further, even within the Blocks the assets must be so located that the catchment area has atleast 25% minority population.
Shri Rahman khan also laid thrust on the monitoring of programmes. He said to ensure vigilant monitoring of these programmes, the Committees at the Block, District and State level must be fully activated and made functional. There should be greater involvement of the representative of minority communities in all these Committees. Also, the meetings of these Committees must be held regularly. He urged the Principal Secretaries and the Secretaries from the States and UTs to monitor this aspect specifically. He said to take the monitoring of these programmes, closer to the target beneficiaries, the system of social audit has been envisaged in both these programmes. MsDP also provides for constitution of social audit committees at the Block level with the members drawn from the minority communities. He also advised for the constitution of Social Audit Committees at the blocks at the earliest.
Courtesy: Press Information Bureau (pib.nic.in)
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