New Delhi: The Centre is considering making a development programme for districts and towns which have the high population of minorities, said President APJ Abdul Kalam on Friday.
''We will take all measures necessary to ensure that the fruits of development are shared equitably, and backward minority groups become active participants and beneficiaries of our growth process,'' he said in Parliament while reading the government’s annual policy statement.
''Certain minority communities continue to remain relatively backward, with a large number of out-of-school children, high dropout rates and low educational attainments. These required focussed intervention,'' Kalam said.
The Justice Rajender Sachar committee’s report on the reasons for the backwardness of Muslims would be discussed in the Budget Session.
The government proposes to start scholarships for students of minority groups from the primary-school level to colleges. Kalam said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 15-point welfare programme for minorities has planned developmental schemes.
The Sachar committee recommended affirmative action for Muslims last year, leading the BJP to allege appeasement.
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