The Hindu : Educational institutions: new norms for grant of minority status

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 05, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Educational institutions: new norms for grant of minority status

By M Rajeev

VIJAYAWADA, FEB. 4. After a long gap, the State Government appears to have finally decided to streamline procedures for the grant of minority status certificates for admission and appointment to minority educational institutions.

The Government recently issued new guidelines to regulate the issuance of minority status certificates to educational institutions aimed at protecting the interests of students from minority communities. Though the Minority Welfare Department authorities maintain that the new guidelines are long overdue, the exercise, according to senior officials, is aimed at making the grant of minority status certificate foolproof. The eligibility criterion, according to the new guidelines, for the agency managing the educational institution should comprise all the members belonging to the religious minority to which they claim to belong. Only educational institutions are entitled for securing the status of a minority institution and the society or trust which manages it cannot get it.

Mere naming of an educational institution to make it appear as though it belongs to minority community would not entitle the institution to claim the recognition. The institutions should comply with the criterion of filling not less than 70 per cent of the seats with students hailing from that minority community.

The principal secretary of the Minority Welfare Department would be the competent authority to grant minority status certificate to religious minority institutions, provided the institution falls in the ambit of all the prescribed norms. Secondary school certificate or any other equivalent record/transfer certificate from schools in which the students have studied would be the basis for admission to minority educational institutions.

The duration for the minority status certificate would be three years, subject to review once a year by a committee chaired by the Minority Welfare Department's principal secretary and comprising the principal secretaries of Higher Education, School Education and Medical, Health & Family Welfare departments as members. In addition, the Government has also reserved the right to withdraw the minority status if the constitution, aims and objectives of the agency are modified or amended in such a way that they no longer reflect the spirit of a minority institution.

Failure of the institution in complying with the prescribed norms and criteria as laid down by the Government would make the institutions liable for termination of the status. The institutions should follow the criteria for establishment, admission, fee structure, appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff and salaries as prescribed by the Government or other competent authority from time to time.

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Andhra Pradesh