Karnataka - Bidar   

Minority communities told to be partners in nation building

Staff Correspondent

`We should be an asset to India and not a drain on the exchequer'

Bidar: "Minorities should realise that we are living in a composite society. We have to integrate with the mainstream. Members of these communities should educate themselves and be equal partners in nation building," State Minorities Commission member Mohammad Shafi has said.

He was speaking at a camp organised in Bidar on Monday by the commission to create awareness among the minority communities about the Government's various welfare programmes. "Communal harmony is the need of the hour. Only a united society can progress. A divided society is its own enemy," Mr. Shafi said.

He asked members of minority communities to focus on providing modern education to their children. "We should prove to be an asset to the country and not a drain on the exchequer," Mr. Shafi said.

Commission chairman K.S. Mohammad Masood said the Karnataka State Backward and Minority Development Board would release grants to districts in proportion to the population of beneficiary communities. Districts such as Bidar with a high minority population percentage would get a larger share, he said.

MLC Quazi Arshad Ali and Deputy Commissioner Munish Moudgil spoke.

Earlier, some members of the Sikh community complained to the commission chairman that some government officers had refused to consider them as members of minority communities. Community leader Narendra Singh said some officials refused to issue caste and income certificates to members of the community. "Muslims get a 60 per cent share in the grants. Christians garner 20 per cent. The other minority communities, including Sikhs, Parsis, Buddhists and Jains, have to compete with each other for the remaining grant," said Mr. Narendra Singh. He urged the chairman to increase grants to Sikhs and other minority communities. Other leaders Gurumeet Singh and Gurupreet Singh demanded that the Sikh community be included among the backward classes. Mr. Masood said the commission would forward these requests to the Government.

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Minority communities told to be partners in nation building

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