Tamil Nadu   

State Minorities Commission wants statutory powers

S. Ganesan

It will study national and other State Commissions to suggest a model

— PHOTO: R. M. RAJARATHINAM

STAKING ITS CLAIM: State Minorities Commission Chairman Rev. Vincent Chinnadurai addressing a sitting of the Commission in Tiruchi on Tuesday.

TIRUCHI: The State Minorities Commission has requested the Government to accord it statutory powers, its chairman Rev. Fr. Vincent Chinnadurai said on Tuesday.

The Government had asked the Commission to study the national and other State Commissions to suggest a model, he told reporters after a sitting of the commission here. Of the 19 State Commissions in the country, only four were not statutory bodies.

Rev. Chinnadurai said the Commission would recommend that the Government form a core committee in the Commission to study the Sachar Committee recommendations and suggest ways to implement them in Tamil Nadu. The Commission would host a seminar on `reservation and minorities' in Chennai on March 23.

He said most of the representations received by the Commission so far pertained to issues relating to educational institutions run by minorities and demands for educational loans. Sanction of grants-in-aid for schools along with teacher posts for schools started after 1991 was an important demand. "We have met the Minister for School Education to discuss the issue and suggested that this be done in phases as it involves substantial additional expenditure for the Government," he said. The Government promised to rectify the problem faced by minority institutions in filling non-teaching posts.

The Commission had also requested the Government to relax the norms for sanction of loans by the Tamil Nadu Minorities Economic Development Corporation. The Government had increased the allocation to the Corporation this year.

Earlier, the Commission Chairman and members Vasanthi Stanley and Z. Zafarullah held discussions with representatives of various organisations representing minority communities.

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