Skip to main content

NGO posts 1 lakh postcards to Gujarat CM, submits plea to 33 district collectors to set up state minorities dept

A minority ghetto in Ahmedabad
By Our Representative
A minority rights civil society organization has asked the Gujarat government to set up an independent minorities’ welfare department. Currently, all minority-related activities fall under the social justice and empowerment department of the state government, one reason why, the NGO, Minority Coordination Committee (MCC), feels there is no focused approach to ameliorate their plight.
In a memorandum addressed to Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, submitted to 33 district collectors, MCC has also demanded setting up a state minorities’ commission and providing it with a constitutional set up by passing a law in the state assembly. Currently, all major states, except for Gujarat, Odisha and Jammu & Kashmir, have minorities commission.
In a list of eight of eight demands, the MCC also asked the state government to set up higher secondary schools up to standard 12 in minority-dominated areas, providing madarsa schools certificate the status of Gujarat state board certificate, setting aside a special economic package for the minorities, and implementation of the 15-point prwogramme for minority welfare, begun by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The memorandum has been submitted to each of the district collector’s office of Gujarat following the NGO’s month-long campaign, which included public meetings, seminars and signature campaigns. About one lakh post cards were sent to the Gujarat chief minster listing the eight demands. However, Gujarat officials have so far not responded to any of these campaigns.
MCC convener Mujahid Nafees, who lives in Juhapura, said to India’s largest Muslim ghetto, told Counterview, “There is a sinister move of the Gujarat government to identify minorities only with Muslims. We take a larger view by including in in the definition not just religious minorities, but also Dalits and other social groups which face social exclusion.”
In that sense, he suggests, MCC follows the well-known Minority Rights Group International (MRGI), one of those objectives has been to work for “the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples worldwide.” Especially focusing on “religious and ethnic persecution, forced migration, persistent inequality and environmental degradation” in India one of the MRGI’s interests includes focus on Dalit rights.
Formed on December 18, 2016, MCC believes, minorities in Gujarat are “more vulnerable than other states”, and examines, as part of its advocacy thrust, how the state government has been treating minorities in Gujarat.
One of its recent analyses, based on official data, says, though a big proportion of minorities live in urban areas, there has not been any effort to “flow” funds to help the poorer sections living in cities/towns which have “a substantial minority population”.
To substantiate, it says, despite an allocation of a whopping Rs 2,033.08 crore in 2014-15 in the state budget for the poor urban minorities, the Gujarat government did not spend the money for their welfare.
Pointing out that there are eight minority concentrated blocks Kutch, Rajkot district and Bharuch districts of Gujarat, and 10 minority-concentrated towns are in Kutch, Junagadh, Panchmahals, Bharuch, Sabarkantha, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Junagardh, Anand in Borsad districts, the analysis says, though the Government of India has set the target of providing assistance to 670 minority beneficiaries for setting up of individual and group micro-enterprises in 2014-15, the state government did nothing in that direction.
According to the analysis, 4,424 minority beneficiaries in self-help groups were to be helped, but not one beneficiary benefited. Also, stat government did not extend any special help to upgrade the skill of minority beneficiaries, though the target was to training 5,535 persons.
The analysis further reveals that the Gujarat government did not construct any primary or upper schools in 2006-07 under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in districts with substantial minority population under the Prime Minister’s 15 point programme to alleviate the plight of the minorities; nothing was done to implement the National Rural Drinking Water Programme in minority areas; and so on.

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.