The Narendra Modi government aims to target rampant poverty among Indian minorities, especially Muslims, and has set the goal of uplifting all Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in the next six to seven years, said Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi .
The BJP-led NDA government is all set to organise the biggest ever conclave of minorities in New Delhi in November in an apparent move to shed pro-majority tag. The government will also go for renaming of schemes on the forgotten icons of the minority communities.
The Narendra Modi government aims to target rampant poverty among Indian minorities, especially Muslims, and has set the goal of uplifting all Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in the next six to seven years, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvitold Mail Today.
To be called ‘Sashaktikaran Samagam’, the conclave would be a congregation of representatives of all minority communities drawn from across the country.
“This will be the biggest ever coming together of minorities in India and will witness the positive agenda of empowerment of the BJP government against the Congress discourse of hollow appeasement for vote bank politics.
We want to have a nonpolitical open discussion on the problems of the minorities,” Naqvi said.
It will not be another political ploy to woo minorities, said Naqvi. “Only that our approach is different from the stereotyped appeasement of minorities by the past Congress regimes. This is part of the ‘Mission Empowerment’ that we have embarked upon. We have decided to hold the conclave after the Bihar elections precisely because we don’t want this to be seen as a political move,” he said.
Naqvi has already toured 17 states to directly contact the minorities for eliciting their response on whether they have benefitted from the welfare schemes launched by past regimes, especially the Congress.
“In the past, governments have only announced schemes without any concern for their implementation. But, we have started an onground review of the schemes,” Naqvi said.
“During my tours, I discovered that the minorities, leave aside benefitting, have not even heard of schemes for them. The fruits of the schemes are being skimmed by middlemen,” he added.
On the other hand, the NDA regime is aiming to obliterate the mark of Congress on the minority politics by way of rewriting history. “After the conclave, we will rename schemes and start new ones in the name of forgotten icons from among the minorities.
They were either forgotten or relegated to the background keeping in view the convenience of the Congress party which wanted to project only those with a Congress background. We will give them the pride of place and infuse confidence among minority communities by telling them that they have had a profound effect in shaping the fate of India,” said Naqvi.
MAIL TODAY accessed the list of all such forgotten names prepared by the NDA government who would be commemorated in the near future. The Congress reacted sharply to the allegations of the Union minister and alleged that the BJP was only misleading the minorities by hollow symbolism.
