Despite its credo, “Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas”, the BJP-led Union government seems not to be interested in the welfare of minorities. The government drastically slashed the budget for the Minority Affairs Ministry in the current financial year; it also scrapped three minority-related schemes in recent months. To top it all off, the fiscal provision earmarked for minority welfare has not been fully utilised. Minority communities believe that the government is purposefully undermining the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) in order to placate the “Hindutva Constituency”.
Recently, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment noted in a report that the minority ministry was not able to fully spend its budgetary allocation during the 2020–21 year.
The report said the funds were lowered at the revised estimate stage by more than Rs. 1,000 crore “due to the slow pace of expenditure in the scholarship component.”
The report stated that the ministry could spend only 38.5% of funds up to Dec. 31, 2020, and there was a reduction of around Rs. 1,024 crore over the budgetary allocation from the budget estimate to the revised estimate stage during 2020–21. This has become a regular feature since the BJP assumed power at the centre.
“The current government has little interest in taking action to support minorities. We observe a rise in the budget for each sector every year. However, in this case, the monies were lowered, and the government even chose not to use those amounts. This makes everything clear, former Union Minister for Minority Affairs K Rehman Khan, who keeps a close tab on the function of the ministry, told Radiance.
Recently, the ministry discontinued the Padho Pardesh Interest Subsidy Scheme, which provided interest subsidies on education loans for students from minority communities who were pursuing studies abroad. All banks were notified of this change last month by the Indian Banks’ Association. The chosen nodal bank, Canara Bank, has been carrying out the scheme so far.
Earlier, it terminated the pre-matric scholarship available to students in Classes 1 through 8. The scheme is now available only to students of Classes 9 and 10. Both the Maulana Azad National Fellowship for higher education and the Nai Udaan Scheme, designed to aid minority candidates in getting ready for the preliminary exams held by the Union and State Public Service Commissions, have been eliminated.
Although the Action Agenda and the Strategy Document of the government think tank Niti Aayog highlighted the fact that Muslims and other religious minorities lag behind on development indicators despite the Centre’s schemes for minorities, these programmes have been discontinued.
The minority ministry currently offers 14 programmes for six designated minority communities but has eliminated four of them and cut this year’s budget from Rs. 4,500 crore to Rs. 3,500 crore.
Its justification for eliminating these scholarships is illogical. These fellowships and scholarships are given out to motivate students to finish their education as well as to urge parents to enrol their kids in schools and institutions. The results of the 75th round of the National Sample Survey on Education, conducted in 2017–18, show that Muslims have a greater dropout rate than people who belong to other religious minorities.
Jawed Alam Khan noted that religious minorities, notably Muslims, have lower education levels as a result of low budget allocations and underutilisation of resources. Through policy initiatives like the Prime Minister’s New 15-Point Programme and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram, the Union government’s overall spending on minorities has decreased as a share of the total spending on the Union Budget from 2012–2013.
Speaking with Radiance, Dr. Khan, who works with the Delhi-based Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, also underlined that the minority ministry has been reduced constantly.
“Budget estimates show that the Ministry of Minority Affairs’ overall spending decreased from 0.14% in 2021-2022 to 0.12% in 2022-2023 as a percentage of the Union Budget. The Ministry of Minority Affairs received Rs. 5,010 crore in 2022–2023 (budget estimate), compared to Rs. 4,246.05 crore in 2021–2022 (updated estimates). The ministry spent Rs. 3,920.29 crore in 2020–21 (actuals) as opposed to the Rs 5,029 crore budget projection for that year”.
Additionally, it appears that expenditures from the Union Budget have not been made in compliance with the ministry’s requests for funding. Only Rs. 4,700 crore, instead of the ministry’s requested Rs. 5,795.26 crore, was allotted for 2019–20. Only Rs. 5,029 crore of the requested Rs. 6,452 crore for 2020–21 was given.
Rehman Khan claimed the Planning Commission during the UPA government allocated a budget of Rs. 27,000 crore for the minority ministry over a five-year period, along with an additional Rs. 3,000 crore grant, as opposed to the Rs. 40,000 crore requested by the ministry.
He noted that every sector’s budget has climbed since the BJP seized control of the government, but the Minority Ministry’s budget has decreased despite the fact that it should have been at least Rs. 10,000 crore per year as every budget takes a 10 per cent inflation rate into account.
Referring to the Waqf Development Corporation, the Central Waqf Council, and the 123 Waqf properties, the former minister said the government’s intention towards minorities is not good. He said in no uncertain terms that he was totally dissatisfied with the functioning of the ministry.
Echoing his views, Dr. John Dayal, activist and author, said the situation for minorities is not good, and organisations established to promote the welfare of minorities are not now in operation.
Speaking with Radiance, he said that since the BJP came to power, “they had the welfare of the minorities on their mind.”
We seem to be observers of the gradual demise of the Minority Ministry.
Referring to the issue of security, Dr. Dayal said although the ministry is not the agency to take stock of violence against minorities, in the past it always took note of incidents of violence, particularly massacres and attempts at genocide, but the present ministry kept silent on the happenings in Manipur and elsewhere.