Sachar Committee

Rajinder Sachar committee    

• The first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government appointed a committee headed by Justice Rajinder Sachar in March 2005 solely to study the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community in India.
• The seven-member High Level Committee submitted its final report to the Prime Minister on November 17, 2006.
• The Government tabled the Justice Rajindar Sachar Committee Report in Parliament on November 30^th, 2006.

The committee considered the following points in its discussion:

• The committee collected the statistical details from different sources regarding the issues related to the community’s existential safety and development contribution and submitted 76 recommendations.

Education

• The pivotal recommendation was that the future policies should involve Muslims and bring them to national mainstream according to the concept of diversity.
• The average national literacy is 64.8% while among Muslims it is 59.1%.

Social:

• Social and material facilities available to Muslims and their population rate are in opposite proportions in villages, where they are in majority.
• When compared with Muslim minority villages, Muslim majority villages have very few bus stops, less roads and housing facilities. No educational institutions can be found in one third of Muslim majority villages. There are no medical facilities in 40% of Muslim majority villages.
• According to the report, Muslims have least of all representations in government departments as well as agencies.
• The number of salaried professionals of Muslims in public/private sectors is far lesser than SC and ST.

Important recommendations:

• Constitute equal-opportunity committee to ensure opportunities to the deprived classes like minorities.
• Initiate the process of nomination to enhance the representation of Muslims in public sector undertakings.
• Reconstitute Muslim majority constituencies, which must not to be reserved for SC.
• Increase Muslim representation in employment especially in public undertakings.
• Take necessary steps to connect Madrassa education with Higher Secondary school boards.
• Recognize Madrassa degrees equal to degree qualification for defense, civil and banking exams.
• To create a National Data Bank where all relevant data for various Socio-religious communities are maintained.

• The Sachar Committee used 2001 census data to understand the demographic profile, infrastructure availability, and educational achievements of the population. It also used data from the National Sample Surveys (NSSO 55th and 61st Rounds) to analyze issues relating to employment, education, consumption patterns, and levels of poverty.
• The Prime Minister's New 15-point Programme for minorities is a programme launched by Indian government in 2006 for welfare of religious minorities in furtherance of reports by committees such as the Sachar Committee Report.

15 Point Programme

Objectives

• The objective of this scheme is to enhance opportunities for education and ensuring an equitable share for minorities in economic activities and employment, through existing and new schemes, enhanced credit support for self-employment, and recruitment to State and Central Government jobs in those districts which have substantial minority population.
• The term ‘substantial minority population’ in the 15 Point Programme applies to such districts/sub-district units where at least 25% of the total population of that unit belongs to minority communities.
• The target group of the programme consists of the eligible sections among the minorities notified under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
• Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains are notified as minority communities in India.
• There is no separate budget for ‘Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities’.
• 24 schemes of 11 ministries are covered under the programme.
• It seeks to ensure the welfare of minorities through
  • Increasing educational and
  • Enhancing employment opportunities
  • Improving living conditions
  • Preventing and controlling communal riots.

Areas

• The programme covers 121 districts of the country where population of Minority Communities is concentrated.
• These states are Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. Lakshadweep is the only Union Territory in this group.
• The Central government has allocated 15% of plan outlays for implementation of the 15 points which are related to various ministries.

These 15 points are as follows

1. Equitable availability of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
2. Improving access to School Education
3. Greater resources for teaching Urdu
4. Modernizing Madarsa Education
5. Scholarships for meritorious students from minority communities
6. Improving educational infrastructure through the Maulana Azad Education Foundation.
7. Self-Employment and Wage Employment for the poor
8. Upgradation of skill through technical training
9. Enhanced credit support for economic activities
10. Recruitment to State and Central Services
11. Equitable share in rural housing scheme
12. Improvement in condition of slums inhabited by minority communities.
13. Prevention of communal incidents
14. Prosecution for communal offences
15. 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)

Details of schemes/initiatives covered under the Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme: 

• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan - Ministry of Human Resources Development
• Integrated Child Development Services Scheme - ICDS providing services through Anganwadi Centres - Ministry of Women & Child
• National Rural Livelihood Mission - NRLM (now it is Known as Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana) - Ministry of Rural Development
• National Urban Livelihoods Mission - NULM (now it is known as Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana) - Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation
• Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) - Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
• Bank credit under priority sector lending - Department of Financial Services - Ministry of Finance
• Indira Awaas Yojana (now it is known as Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana) - Ministry of Rural Development.

Schemes for minorities implemented by the M/o Minority Affairs: 

• Pre-Matric Scholarship scheme
• Post-Matric Scholarship scheme
• Merit-cum-Means Scholarship scheme for technical & professional courses
• Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students
• Loan schemes of National Minority Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC) for economic activities
• Schemes of Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF) for promotion of education
• Free Coaching and Allied scheme.

Schemes

• Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) - Ministry of HUPA - Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
• Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) - Ministry of Urban Development
• Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) - Ministry of Urban Development
• National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) - Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation.

Special Initiatives for welfare of minorities: 

• Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madarsa (SPQEM) - Department of School Education & Literacy - Ministry of Human Resource Development.
• Scheme for Infrastructure Development of Minority Institutions (IDMI) - Department of School Education & Literacy - Ministry of Human Resource Development
• Greater Resources for Teaching Urdu – Scheme for Appointment of Language Teachers - Dept of School Education & Literacy - Ministry of Human Resource Development
• Recruitment of minorities in Govt. Departments/ Organizations - Department of Personnel & Training - Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
• Guidelines on communal harmony - Ministry of Home Affairs.

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