United Front plans a great leap forward for India's minorities

George Iype in New Delhi

In an effort to boost its pro-minority image, the United Front government has decided to create a special minority fund for the welfare of minority communities in the Ninth Five Year plan.

Government sources said an initial allocation of at least Rs 5 billion for the welfare of religious minorities will be incorporated in the forthcoming five year plan.

The suggestion to create a special fund for minorities, in fact, came from Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda at this week's National Development Council in New Delhi.

The National Commission for Minorities had also recommended that allocation of a welfare fund for the religious minorities was the need of the hour.

The draft of the Ninth Five Year plan has already been discussed at the NDC. But senior officials said the Planning Commission will incorporate Deve Gowda's suggestions in the draft before finalising and presenting it to the government.

Sources said the UF government is keen to announce a package for the minority communities to ward off the criticism that in its seven months in power the Front has initiated no welfare measures for them.

Granting minority community status to the Jains in India and special programmes for minority-concentrated districts will be part of the initiative.

Federal Welfare Minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia told Rediff On The NeT that the government has already decided to notify the Jains as a national religious minority community.

'It has been a long-standing demand of the Jain community and the government has found that their demand is genuine,' the minister stated.

When it gets minority status, the nearly 4 million Jains will be the sixth religious minority community in India, after the Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Parsis.

The government provides special benefits to minority communities in educational institutions and public sector undertakings. For instance, a college administered by a Jain management can reserve 50 per cent seats for students from the Jain community.

The religious minorities are also given special loans from the National Minority Development Financial Corporation.

Many believe the Deve Gowda government's pro-minority moves are not out of genuine concern, but out of compulsion from its supporting parties like the Congress.

Congress president Sitaram Kesri, a known champion of minorities and a former Union welfare minister, has more than once castigated the UF government for not announcing any programmes for India's minorities.