1. Empowerment of Minorities
Strategies for the 12th Five Year Plan and Beyond

2. For discussion only
Current Status
Indian Constitution is committed to the ideas of
equality and protection of rights of minorities.
(18.4 % of the population in 2001).
Five Religious Minority communities covered are:
Muslims (13.4%)
Christians (2.3%)
Sikhs (1.9%)
Buddhists (0.8%) and
Zoroastrians (Parsis)(0.0069%).
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3. For discussion only
Current Status
High economic growth and development in
recent years, has not benefited all religious
communities and social groups (SRCs).
Among these, the Muslims, the largest
minority in the country, are seriously
lagging behind on all human development
indices.
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4. For discussion only
Challenges for the Empowerment of Minorities
The empowerment of minorities in the Twelfth Plan is
envisaged through their active participation in the
developmental process as participants and not as
passive recipients of developmental benefits.
In order to remove perception of discrimination and
alienation innovative steps are needed such as
expanding facilitators in Muslim concentration villages
and towns to act as interfaces between the community
and the state institutions.
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5. For discussion only
Challenges for the Empowerment of Minorities
• The Twelfth Plan vision for faster, more inclusive and sustainable
growth mandates that bold and creative affirmative action must be
undertaken to ensure inclusion of different socio-religious
communities and ensure fulfillment of their social, economic and
political needs.
• The inclusion and empowerment of different socio-religious
communities should not be viewed as a welfare measure
undertaken as a consequence of economic growth, but as a critical
development imperative to ensure inclusion of different socio-
religious communities and to ensure fulfillment of their social,
economic and political needs.
Cont.
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6. For discussion only
Challenges for the Empowerment of Minorities
The importance of educational empowerment
assumes special importance in the context of
minorities, especially Muslims, who have been
lagging behind the rest.
(Reports of the Sachar Committee and the Ranganath Mishra Commission have
dealt at length with the educational status of the minorities, particularly Muslims.)
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7. Educational Levels among Different Communities
Community Secondary Sr. Graduation Unclassified
Level Secondary
level
All 14.13 6.74 6.72 0.02
Religions
Hindus 14.25 6.92 7.01 0.01
Muslims 10.96 4.53 3.6 0.05
Christians 17.48 8.7 8.71 0.01
Sikhs 20.94 7.57 6.94 0.02
Buddhists 14.09 7.65 5.7 0.01
Others 11.24 4.55 4.35 0.01
Source: Working Group Report on the Empowerment of Minorities,
Twelfth Five Year Plan.

8. Percentage Distribution of Workers by Category
Name of Percentage of Total Workers
Religion
Cultivators Agricultural Household Other
Labourers Industry Workers
Hindus 33.1 27.6 3.8 35.5
Muslims 20.7 22.0 8.7 49.1
Christian 29.2 15.3 2.7 52.8
Sikhs 32.4 16.8 3.4 47.3
Buddhists 20.4 37.6 2.9 39.2
Other 49.9 32.6 3.2 14.3
religions
India 31.7 26.5 4.2 37.6
Source: Census 2001.

9. Vision of the Twelfth Five Year Plan
The vision for the 12th Five Year Plan consists of the series of the bold and creative
measures that build upon, but also go beyond the achievements of the 11th Five Year
Plan
• INCREASED ALLOCATION
• DIRECTLY TARGET MINORITIES: Re-vamp the design, expand
the scope and strengthen implementation structures of key
initiatives like the MsDP and 15 PP such that minority settlements
and people are directly targeted;
• INSTITUTIONALISE ROBUST MONITORING: Create internal
accountability and impact-based monitoring systems.
Cont.

10. • DEVELOP TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP: Build
transformative leadership, through training and capacity
building schemes, among minority communities on a
large scale, especially among minority women and
youth.
• FOCUS ON SKILL BUILDING FOR EMPLOYABILITY:
Develop skills to generate employability among minority
youth in all MsDP blocks and towns through direct
linkages with the National Skill Development Mission.
• INITIATE PILOT SCHEMES FOR MINORITIES:

11. PRIME MINISTER’S NEW 15 POINT PROGRAMME
Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme was launched in 2005 with the
aim of allocating 15 per cent of specified Centrally Sponsored Schemes
for Minorities. The 12th Five Year Plan has suggested that in order to
ensure adequate funds and benefits reach the minorities, the
existing guidelines of earmarking ‘15 per-cent of funds wherever
possible’ should be revised to ‘15 per cent and above’ in proportion
to the size of the minority population.

12. Multi-sectoral Development Programme in identified
minority concentrated districts
• The population criteria is proposed to be brought down from 25%
to 15% and the block will become the unit of development.
• In order to provide the best quality education, the endeavour in the
Twelfth Plan will be towards having one Residential School along
the lines of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya and Kasturba Gandhi
Balika Vidyalaya.
• Norms in these schools need to ensure admission to at least 50
per cent children belonging to minorities.

13. Monitorable targets of Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17)
• Eliminate gender and social gap in school enrolment (that is,
between girls and boys, and between SCs, STs, Muslims and the
rest of the population) by the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan.
• The literacy rate of religious minorities should be increased as
quickly as possible to be at par with the national average, wherever
applicable.
• The participation of religious minorities in graduate and post
graduate studies should be proportionate to their population (2011),
with special focus on the economically weaker sections.
• IMR, MMR, Institutional Deliveries, Child Immunisation and
Vaccination of religious minorities should be brought at par with the
national average, with special focus on the economically weaker
and the socially marginalised sections.

14. • Work participation rate of religious minorities in the
organised sector should be increased to be at par with
other communities.
• Representation of religious minorities in all forms of
Government employment should be increased in
proportion to their population (2011).
• Share of total number and total amount of bank loans
given to all religious minorities, with special focus on
Muslims and other economically weaker and socially
marginalised groups, should be increased to be at par
with that of the general population.
• There should be 100 per cent financial inclusion, including
access to sources of formal credit and finance for all
eligible persons belonging to religious minorities.

15. Budget Allocation
Allocation for the XII Five Year Plan (2012-17) Rs. 17323.00 crore
Budget Estimate for 2013-14 Rs. 3511.00 crore
Budget Estimate for 2012-13 Rs. 3135.00 crore
Revised Estimate for 2012-13 Rs. 2200.00 crore