Prime Minister’s New 15 point Programme for minorities is a programme launched by
Indian government
The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the Government, national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy lo ...
for welfare of religious minorities in furtherance of reports by committees such as the Sachar Committee Report that highlighted that minorities, especially Muslims, in the country were often in a worse socio-economic and political condition than communities such as the Scheduled Casts and Scheduled tribes communities that have been oppressed over millennia through the
caste system
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
(also referred to as the varna system). It pegged the status of minorities on various indicators such as nutrition, health, education et al. of minorities and specially Muslims at an abysmally poor level. The 15 point program was the government's response to these finding by laying down guidelines to target minorities in schemes and entitlements that are already in place and designing and executing new schemes aimed at the empowerment of these groups. The programme advocated allocating 15% of plan outlays of welfare schemes identified under the 15 point programme. Mainly, issues of education, credit, housing, employment and communal harmony fall under its ambit.
15 Points
#Equitable availability of the
Integrated Child Development Services
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is a government program in India which provides nutritional meals, preschool education, primary healthcare, immunization, health check-up and referral services to children under 6 years of age and their ...
(ICDS) - Aims at development of children and pregnant/lactating mothers from minorities and those living below the
Below Poverty Line (India)
Below Poverty Line is a benchmark used by the government of India to indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals and households in need of government assistance and aid. It is determined using various parameters which vary from s ...
, by providing services such as better supplementary nutrition, immunization, health check-up and free education.
#Improving access to School Education — Implement various Government schemes like
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (), or SSA, is an Indian Government programme aimed at the universalisation of Elementary education "in a time bound manner", the 86th Amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory education to children ...
,
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya
The Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya or KGBV is a residential girls’ secondary school run by the Government of India for the weaker sections in India.
History
The plan was introduced by the Government of India in August 2004. It was then integr ...
scheme and other similar schemes in villages/localities having a substantial minority communities population.
#Greater resources for teaching
Madarsa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
Education — Provide basis educational infrastructure and resources for the modernization of Madarsa education.
#Scholarships for meritorious students from minority communities
#Improving educational infrastructure through the
Maulana Azad
Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad (; 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian independence activist, Islamic theologian, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Following Ind ...
Education Foundation.
#Self-Employment and Wage Employment for the poor — Earmark certain percentage of
Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana or DAY is one of the Government of India scheme for helping the poor by providing skill training. It replaces Aajeevik. The Government of India has provisioned for the scheme. The objective of the scheme is to train ...
scheme for minorities.
#Upgradation of skill through technical training — Open new ITIs in areas predominantly inhabited by minority communities and upgrade some ITIs to ‘Centres of Excellence’.
#Enhanced credit support for economic activities
#Recruitment to State and Central Services
#Equitable share in rural housing scheme — Earmark certain percentage in
Indira Awaas Yojana
Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana (), previously Indira Awas Yojana (), is a social welfare programme, created by the Indian Government, to provide housing for the rural poor in India. A similar scheme for urban poor was launched in 2015 as Hous ...
for minorities.
#Improvement in condition of slums inhabited by minority communities — Implement Integrated Housing & Slum Development Programme and
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was a massive city-modernization scheme launched by the Government of India under the Ministry of Urban Development. It envisaged a total investment of over $20 billion over seven years. ...
in minority populated regions.
#Prevention of communal incidents
#Prosecution for communal offences
#Rehabilitation of victims of communal riots.
Three more schemes were introduced into the 15 point programme for minorities in 2009 namely:
#National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP)
#Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT)
#Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG)
Certain state governments have opposed the allocation of resources based on religion and called it communal budgeting and a ploy to divide society on religious lines.
Implementation
The 15 point programme has been criticized for slow progress and lack of proper monitoring. The implementation of several schemes slowed down while many were closed after the
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
was ruled into power in 2014. A social organization, Khudai Khidmatgar, conducted a public audit of the programme in Malda,
Meerut
Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...
and
Murshidabad
Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district.
During ...
and found that even educated people were not aware of the various minority schemes.