Minority Affairs Ministry’s first regional conference on Dec 21

Hyderabad, Dec 19 : The Ministry of Minority Affairs proposes to hold four regional Conferences of the Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the country to create awareness of the schemes and the programmes of the Ministry covering South, North, East and Western India.

The first such Conference for the Southern Region will be held on December 21 at the Auditorium of Delhi Public School of North Bengaluru, Karnataka. The Southern Region Conference of NGOs will cater to the needs of four Southern States namely, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra. The Conference will be inaugurated by Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah and the Union Minister of Minority Affairs K Rahman Khan will be the ‘Chief Guest’ in the conference.

The Conference will be organized by the National Minority Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC). More than 700 NGOs are expected to participate in the Conference. It is hoped that the Conference will create awareness amongst the people about the schemes and programmes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs through presentations, printed materials, stalls of various organizations, open house interactions, etc.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs which was created in January, 2006 for the welfare of the five centrally notified minorities i.e. Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs and Parsis, has been focusing its approach towards the issues relating to the minorities and the formulation of overall policies, planning, coordination, evaluation and review of the regulatory framework, schemes and development programmes for the benefit of the minority communities.

The Ministry plans to create awareness of the schemes and the programmes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs for the minorities in the fields of educational empowerment; skill development; access to credit; special development initiatives; Wakfs; Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP); scholarship, fellowship and coaching programmes; Nai Roshni, the scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women; National Minority Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC); Seekho Aur Kamao (Learn & Earn) – the Skill Development Initiative for Minorities; Jiyo Parsi, the scheme for containing population decline of minorities; protection and development of wakf properties; etc. INN