UPSC Articles
SC : Welfare schemes for religious minorities
Part of: GS Prelims –Polity and GS-II- Vulnerable section
In news:
- The Supreme Court asked the UP government to respond to a petition alleging that the government is discriminating against Hindus by providing religious minorities with welfare schemes worth thousands of crores.
From Prelims point of view:
National Commission for Minorities
- Statutory body set up under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
- Unlike other bodies like NCSC and NCST, NCM has no constitutional backing or status.
- Works under the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
- It looks into complaints from members of five religious communities notified as a minority community in 2014.( Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) Jain community)
Who are minorities?
- Constitution speaks of minorities ‘based on religion or language’ and rights of minorities have been spelt out in Constitution in detail.
- Six religious communities, viz. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains have been notified in Gazette of India as minority communities by Union Government all over India.
