NAC warned against 'M-worded' schemes

NEW DELHI: The minority affairs ministry has told the Sonia Gandhi-chaired National Advisory Council that calling its welfare schemes as catering exclusively to Muslims could trip it in courts where it faces litigations accusing it of appeasement and discrimination on religious grounds.

The ministry argued that it was successful in two cases in the Bombay high court because of its strategy to play by the Constitution and design its schemes like multi sector development (MSD) as catering to five nationally notified minorities as against singling out any group like that of the Muslims.

It warned that while the Centre successfully navigated two court battles, it was faced with two more cases on the implementation of the Sachar committee report. It said that the Constitution only mentions 'minorities' and has no mention of any specific minority group.

The vociferous defence follows a report by the Centre for Equity Studies which slammed UPA's minority initiatives as a non-starter. It blamed the poor implementation on the government's timidity to not specify the schemes as targeting Muslims for fear that BJP would raise the "appeasement" bogey again.

The report, prepared by NAC member Harsh Mander, said the government's choice of an omnibus identity like "minority" or "minority concentration district" blurred the focus on Muslims.

It said that the government's dithering even led to express instructions to officials in the field to exclude Muslim areas from development programmes in minority concentration districts where MSD is implemented.

The ministry, however, dismissed the "shy of M-word" charge or that it had any impact on benefits to Muslims. It argued that the sheer fact that Muslims form 73% of the minorities would ensure that they got a bulk of the benefits.

At the core of the government predicament has been the continued aggression from the BJP since the formation of minority affairs ministry midway UPA-1 and the Sachar committee report on socio-economic backwardness of Muslims.

The saffron family has said that the government's initiatives are aimed towards appeasement.

The ministry has told the NAC that the Centre was faced with litigations alleging Muslim appeasement, with some even questioning why the poor among Jains and Hindus were not covered by its schemes.

It said the ministry had countered these charges by saying that its schemes were aimed at the underprivileged among minorities of which Muslims were a part.