Outlay for Minority Affairs Ministry hiked by 50%

Government today increased the outlay for the Ministry of Minority Affairs by around 50% to give a boost to the welfare schemes for minority communities in the country.

While the allocation in the last Budget for the ministry was Rs 1,740 crore, it has now gone up to Rs2,600 crore signalling the importance which the government attached to minority welfare.

The allocation has increased significantly for the multi-sectoral development programme for the minorities in selected minority-concentrated districts. In the last budget, it was Rs 889.50 crore while a sum of Rs 1,204.20 crore has been allocated for the next financial year.

The allocation for pre-matric scholarships for minorities has been more than doubled with government earmarking Rs400 crore under this head in comparison to Rs176.99 crore allocated in the last budget. Similarly, the allocations for post-matric scholarships and merit-cum-means scholarships have also been increased considerably.
    
Doubling the allocation for pre-matric scholarships was one of the key demands of the Ministry in view of large number of applicants and paucity of funds.