Going ahead on the commitments made under the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme for minorities the Ministry of Rural Development has set aside about Rs 1,000 crore for minorities under three of its schemes. Specific resource allocation in terms of physical and financial targets for minorities have been set aside under Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), and Sampoorna Grameen Rojgar Yojana (SGRY). Till now similar physical and financial allocations were made only for SC and STs.

Of Rs 3,000 crore for rural housing under the IAY, the Ministry has earmarked over Rs 581 crore for religious minorities living below poverty line. This will amount to construction of over 2.3 lakh houses for poor religious minorities. The ministry has also earmarked state share ranging from over 50,000 houses in West Bengal to two in Himachal Pradesh.

Similarly, of the total Rs 3,000 crore for SGRY in all non-NREG districts, the ministry has earmarked over Rs 290 crore for poor minorities. The fund allocations among different states vary from Rs 59 crore in Uttar Pradesh to Rs 7 lakh in Daman and Diu.

In case of the ministry’s scheme for self-employment generation through formation of self-help groups (SHGs), SGSY, it has set a target of over 1.5 lakh beneficiaries to be assisted under SGSY. This is likely to cost more than Rs 150 crore for the share of minority beneficiaries under SGSY across the country. With a budget of Rs 1,200 crore, the ministry has a total target of assisting over 10 lakh beneficiaries under SGSY this year. The distributions of targeted minority beneficiaries vary from 16 in Lakshadweep to about 37,000 beneficiaries in WB.

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