Bill to make NMCME statutory body

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the elections, HRD minister Arjun Singh wants to do his bit for the minorities. The ministry plans to pilot a legislation that would give the National Monitoring Committee of Minority Education the status of a statutory body.

At present, the committee is set by executive order. The legislation in being drafted in view of a resolution passed by NMCME to ensure that it does not become defunct in the absence of a favourable dispensation at the Centre. The monitoring body was defunct between 1994 and 2004.

Explaining the rationale for such a legislation at this late stage, HRD minister Arjun Singh explained that the proposal to set up a monitoring mechanism was first mooted by former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The proposal was part of the National Education Policy formulated in 1986. However, the monitoring body had its last meeting in 1994, after which it was defunct for 10 years ��� revived only by the UPA government in 2004. Mr Singh said that over the past five years, the NMCME had through its monitoring of activities led to ���alertness and sensitivity towards minority education.���