Odisha needs a Minority Commission to deal with the problems of minority communities while such commissions are existing in 13 States. However, unfortunately, the State Government has not taken any initiative in this regard.
Though STs, SCs Development, Minority and Backward Class Welfare Department of the Odisha Government deals with the minority affairs but there has been a demand from among the minority communities for such a panel since long.
Public institutions are a part of our constitutional democracy and as citizens every one deserves the right to be represented for a cause before the State. The idea of India as envisaged in the Constitution and inclusive development includes participation of all its people with multi-religious faith and identities.
The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs has been created since 2006 headed by a person belonging to any of minority communities. Legally there are six notified minority communities in India namely Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis/Zoroastrians and Jains those who constitute 19 per cent of the population of our country. As per 2011 Census, minorities constitute 5.05 per cent of the total population of Odisha out of which largest population among minorities are the Christians (2.77 per cent), followed by Muslims (2.17 per cent) ,Sikhs (0.05 per cent) , Jains (0.02 per cent) and Buddhists (0.03 per cent).
Leave apart issues of communal tensions, religion based discrimination and segregation, there have been reports about the under developed socio-eco condition of these communities along with their underrepresentation in various fields includes political, governance, Government jobs , education and business etc which needs to be changed to build a composite living space for people of diverse faith.
The dedicated ministry has planned out budget of Rs 4,700 crore for the year 2019-20 to carry out different schemes and programmes targeting the educational, health, and economic development along with ensuring employment for the youths. There are a number of schemes and programmes which are not being properly implemented in Odisha due to lack of awareness among members of minority communities and in the absence of an appropriate monitoring body in the State, leading to persistent backwardness in many ways.
One of the major flagship programmes of the Government is Pradhanmantri Jan Viakas Karayakrama (PMJVK) which is being implemented in 109 minority concentrated district headquarters, 870 minority concentrated blocks and 321 minority concentrated towns, based on the population data of the Census 2011, focusing education, health and public infrastructure development for larger public utility of the people of the areas including non-minority population in the locality. The district of Gajapati is identified as a Christian minority concentrated area.There are districts such as Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Baleswar, Cuttack, Jajpur , Khurda, Puri , Kondhamal and Sundargada also having sizeable minority population. Education among minorities as top priority, the Union Ministry has implemented scholarship schemes for the minority students from pre-matric to post-matric level and higher education within the country and abroad.
The pre-matric scholarship ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10, 700 and post matric scholarship ranging from Rs 2,300 to Rs 15, 000 is being awarded to selected students for ten months.
The merit –cum-means based scholarship scheme is available for selected students with family income slab of Rs 2.50 lakh (annually) to study in 85 reputed institutes for professional and technical courses. The Maulana Azad National Fellowship is available through UGC for students pursuing MPhil and PhD after clearance of NET/CSIR-NET examinations. In order to encourage students and candidates for jobs the scheme called NAYA SAVERA is being implemented to provide free coaching and allied schemes for services since 2007 and it is now restricted to family’s income not exceeding Rs 6 lakh per annum.
Added to this, a scheme named NAI UDAAN is implemented for one time support to minority students for clearing prelims conducted by UPSC and other exams conducted by SSC and SPSC. This scheme supports the candidates whose family income is not more than Rs 8 lakh per annum. The rate of assistance is Rs 1 lakh for clearing preliminary exam conducted by UPSC.
PADHO PARDESH is another interest subsidy scheme on educational loans for minority students for overseas studies. The Canara Bank is the nodal bank dealing with this schemes. There are also a host of other targeted schemes for women such as NAI ROSHNI to promote leadership development among minority women and NAI MANZIL scheme for education and livelihood initiative for making employable the school dropouts from BPL families within age group of 17-35 years through education and skill development training. This project is operational in 22 States since 2016 with support from the World Bank.
The State of Odisha has eight such projects being implemented in minority concentrated areas. Along with this under the framework of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the National Skill Development Corporation’s SEEKHO AUR KAMAO scheme supports skill development and placement through education and engagement facilitation.
There is also a scheme called USTTAD and HUNAR HAAT for promotion of traditional art and craft among minority youths with skill upgrading to making them as master craftsmen, and providing facilities for marketing linkages nationally and internationally. HAMARA DHAROHAR is a scheme to preserve the rich heritage of the minority communities of the country.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs encourages civil society organizations and engaged around 300 such agencies for implementation of various schemes but it is noticed that Odisha has a very negligible participation in this regard.
It is required to encourage minority community based civil society organizations to take up their issues of civil, social and economic development by using the available institutional arrangement and resources with Government and others.
Only State level institutional arrangement with the representation and control of minority communities can change their lot, which will strengthen Odisha’s secular ethos, democratic participation and development.
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