Calling for an India that is “prosperous and equitable,” “caring and inclusive,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here today that schemes to empower the marginalised — SC/STs, OBCs, minorities, women and children — “must have the first claim on resources.”

He singled out minority welfare as an area of concern. “We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development.” Singh’s remarks come days after the Sachar committee reported to Parliament on the dismal representation of Muslims in all sectors, from employment to education.

Addressing the National Development Council consisting of all state Chief Ministers here today to clear the approach to the XI Plan, the PM identified what he called the “clear” collective priorities: agriculture, irrigation and water resources, health, education, rural infrastructure, along with programmes for the upliftment of SC/STs, minorities, women and children.

Later, speaking at the inter-state council, Singh carried this theme forward when he urged states to use stronger provisions of the law to prevent atrocities against SC/STs. “Today, as our country experiences rapid economic growth, it becomes all the more necessary that we ensure that our growth is truly inclusive. Otherwise, the growth in itself is of no value,” he said.

The weaker sections, “particularly those who have undergone historic seclusion”, had to be allowed to participate and contribute effectively to the processes of development, he said.

While there are, what the prime minister termed, “a myriad other responsibilities whose demands will have to be fitted within the over-all resource availability”, he said the Planning Commission would “eliminate those which have outlived their original rationale”.

... contd.