The Ministry of Minority Affairs is the ministry in the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

which was carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and created on 29 January 2006. It is the apex body for the central government's regulatory and developmental programmes for the minority religious communities and minority linguistic communities in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, which include

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

s, Zoroastrians ( Parsis) and Jains notified as minority religious communities in The Gazette of India under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. The current minister is Kiren Rijiju who has been in office since 10 June 2024, and the Minister of State is George Kurian (since June 2024).

Character

The ministry is also involved with the linguistic minorities and of the office of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, representation of the

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

community, protection and preservation of non-Muslim shrines in Pakistan and Muslim shrines in India in terms of the Pant-Mirza Agreement of 1955, in consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs. The Minister in charge is also Chairperson of the Central Wakf Council, India, which manages the running of the State Wakf Boards. Ministry of Minority Affairs provides Moma scholarship to minority community students of India every year. Moma Scholarship is a scholarship scheme of the Ministry of Minority Affairs initiated with the aim of supporting minority communities student who is not financially strong and wants to pursue higher studies in India. Minority communities in India includes Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains. The scholarship is awarded to the students by India Government through State Government/UTs. The scholarship is awarded for the undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Linguistic Minorities, according to Indian Constitution should have a Special Officer appointed. Constitutional Article: 350B. :#There shall be a Special Officer for linguistic minorities to be appointed by the President. :#It shall be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under this Constitution and report to the President upon those matters at such intervals as the President may direct, and the President shall cause all such reports to be laid before each House of Parliament, and sent to the Governments of the States concerned. It is to be decided based on states as the states have been formed on linguistic basis.

Cabinet Ministers

The Minister of Minority Affairs is the head of the Ministry of Minority Affairs and one of the cabinet ministers of the

. *Note: MoS, I/C Minister of State with Independent Charge

Ministers of State

Organisations

*Constitutional and Statutory Bodies ** Central Wakf Council (CWC) ** National Commission for Minorities (NCM) *
Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities
(CLM) ** Haj Committee of India * Autonomous Bodies *
Maulana Azad Education Foundation
(MAEF) * PSUs and Joint Ventures ** National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC)

Schemes & Scholarship Programmes

* Jiyo Parsi - Scheme for containing population decline of Parsis * Nai Roshni - Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women * Nai Manzil - An Integrated Education and Livelihood Initiative for the Minority Communities * Nai Udaan - Support for minority students clearing prelims exam conducted by UPSC, State PSC and SSC * Seekho aur Kamao (Learn & Earn) - Scheme for Skill Development of Minorities * Hamari Dharohar - A scheme to preserve the rich heritage of Minority Communities of India under the overall concept of Indian culture * Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme * Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme * Merit-cum-Means Scholarship Scheme * Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students *Padho Pardesh - Scheme of Interest Subsidy on Educational Loans for Overseas Studies for the Students Belonging to the Minority Communities

References

External links

Ministry of Minority Affairs, Official Website
*
Current Affairs News and Magazines
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Minority Affairs Ministry of Minority Affairs Minority Affairs Religion in India 2006 establishments in India India, Minority Affairs India, Minority Affairs India, Minority Affairs Minorities-focussed government initiatives in India