Minorities Pushed To Wall As Modi-Government Slashes Budget By 87 %

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Ishfaq-ul-Hassan

NEW DELHI—Centre has pushed minorities to the wall after it slashed budgetary allocation for different welfare schemes for minorities by 87 per cent.

The budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been reduced by 38% or Rs. 1922.90 crores for the financial year 2023-24 as the budget estimate for the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been reduced to ₹3,097 crore from ₹5,020.50 crores last fiscal.

Besides, more than Rs 2407.84 crore allocated to the ministry in the last financial year remained unutilized by the Ministry of Minority Affairs. This was revealed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union budget 2023-24 presented in Parliament on Wednesday.

The central government also drastically reduced the budget for multifaceted development projects (renamed now as ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram’) in minority-concentrated areas from Rs. 1650 crores last fiscal to Rs. 600 crores only this year.  The Expenditure Budget 2023-24 revealed that while the budgetary allotment last year was almost three times the current fiscal budget, Rs 1150 crore of the allocation was not utilized by the ministry during the last financial year.

Funds allotted for madrasas and minority education have also been reduced from Rs 160 crore in 2022-2023 to Rs 10 crore in 2023-24 which accounts for a 93% cut.

As against Rs 2515 crore allocated in the last budget for schemes for the educational empowerment of minority communities, only Rs 1689 crore has been allocated this time. The funding for pre-matric scholarships, which the Centre has decided not to give to students of classes 1 to 8 from now on, has come down from Rs 1425 crore this year to just Rs 433 crore.

The budget document makes it clear that the pre-matric scholarship scheme is limited to children studying in classes 9 and 10 only. Of the Rs.1425 crore allocated in the last budget for this scholarship, only Rs 556.82 crore was spent by the central government.


Similarly, funds for merit-cum-means scholarships for professional and technical courses, besides skill development schemes, have been drastically slashed. This year only Rs 44 crore has been allocated for such scholarships. Last year’s fund allocation was Rs 365 crore.

The amount for special programmes for minorities has been reduced from Rs 53 crore to Rs 26.10 crore.

Funds for a pre-matric scholarship for minorities have been reduced by Rs 992 crores.  

The allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs for the skill development of minorities has been reduced from Rs 491.91 crore to just Rs 64.60 crore this time. In this budget, only Rs 10 crore has been allocated for skill development initiatives as against Rs 235.41 crore allocated in the last budget.

Only Rs 10 crore has been sanctioned for the ‘Ustad’ scheme for traditional artisans as against Rs 47.46 crore allocated in the last budget.

Similarly, only Rs 10 crore is allocated for the ‘Nayi Manzil’ scheme for which Rs 46 crore was sanctioned in the last budget. The allocation of Rs 10 crore last time to protect the minority culture and traditions has been reduced to Rs 10,000 only this time.

The only increase highlighted is the increase in the amount for post-matric scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate students from Rs 515 crore to Rs 1065 crore. The amount for the National Commission for Minorities has been increased from Rs 12.70 crore to Rs 15 crore and for the Linguistic Minority Officer from Rs 2.85 crore to Rs 4 crore.

Rs 96 crore has been allocated for Maulana Azad national fellowship for MPhil and PhD students, Rs 30 crore for free coaching and related schemes and Rs 21 crore for interest subvention on loans for foreign studies.

Top educationists and scholars have expressed dismay over the Centre’s move to slash funds. “It’s discrimination against minorities. There is a huge cut in the budget of the Ministry of Minority Affairs. Plus several schemes for minorities have been scrapped,” said Dr Javed Alam Khan, an education expert. 

Prominent scholar Syed Tanveer Ahmed said people who talk of social justice and equitable growth are disappointed with this budget. 

“Minorities form 15 per cent of the total population in India. Last year the budget was Rs 5000 crore. This year, only Rs 3000 crore has been allocated. We fail to understand why budgetary allocation has been reduced. Have minorities progressed? Have they been uplifted to the extent that they do not require funds?” he asked.

Mr Tanveer Ahmed said even BJP workers who were trying to reach out to Pasmanada Muslims might be disappointed with this budget.

“Prime Minister Modi has been talking about Pasmanda Muslims. Even those BJP workers who are trying to establish contact with Pasmanda Muslims might be disappointed because of the low budgetary allocation,” he said.

Welfare Party of India president Dr. SQR Ilyas described the union budget as “a pre-poll budget, disappointing and excluding minorities, marginalised and the poor.”

“The minority education budget is a clear injustice to minorities and the central government has taken no stand for its upliftment,” commented Dr. Roshan Mohidin, national secretary, Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO).

“This myopic vision does not bode well for the equitable development of the country,” remarked Dr. Mohidin.

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