Monday 13 January 2014

Annual Conference of State Minorities Commissions

The Annual Conference of State Minorities Commissions will be held on 13 January, 2014. This year the Conference is focused on the theme of ‘Assessing the impact of Prime Minister`s 15 Points Programme’. The Conference will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India in presence of the Minister of Minority Affairs and Minister of State for Minority Affairs.

 The Chairman and Members of the National and State Minorities Commission, NGOs, and senior officers of the State Governments dealing with minorities, will participate in the Conference. 

The Conference is held every year for discussing and sharing the experiences of State Minorities Commissions in tackling problems faced by the minorities in the States and arriving at remedial measures to ensure the rights of minorities and their socio-economic development. 

The New 15-Point Programme launched in 2006 aims at ensuring the wellbeing, protection and development of minorities. The focus of the Programme is to ensure that the benefits of various development schemes and programmes of the Government accrue in equitable measure to the minorities, especially those located in minority concentration areas.

 As per the programme wherever possible 15% of targets and outlays under various poverty alleviation schemes are earmarked for minorities and a reasonable representation of minorities in Government including the public sector are ensured. 

The National Commission for Minorities and the State Minorities Commissions play a proactive role by recommending suitable measures for improving the socio-economic conditions of minorities, which is the objective of the 15 point programme. 

The States must focus to ensure the basic needs like education and health care, housing and employment of minorities and provide a framework for participation of minorities in governance and all aspects of the development process, which are the basic features of the New 15 point programme for minorities.

 The Conference will deliberate on the achievements under the programme and also assess what challenges remain and remedial measures and steps required to ensure better targeting and faster upliftment of minorities. 

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