Mumbai:
Irked by the deadlock vis-à-vis the schemes meant for development of
the minorities in the state Maharashtra government decided to form a
legislators' committee to monitor their implementation.
"The cabinet has approved the
formation of the legislators' committee comprising MLAs from various political parties to monitor if the schemes meant for the
development of minorities are implemented properly", said Minister for
Minority Development Mohammad Arif Naseem Khan.
Arif Naseem Khan was addressing the
National Minorities Welfare Day function held at Sahyadari Guest House in
Mumbai on Monday November 23. The day is part of the ongoing
Qaumi Ekta Saptah - National Integration Week celebrated between
November 23-25.
"The cabinet after taking the all
important decision consequently wrote to the House Secretary to make the
formation of the committee a reality as early as possible", he said.
The decision, the minister said, was
prompted by the review of various departments that showed the
schemes for minorities though looked very impressive on papers were
not effectively implemented.
"After taking charge of the ministry
we took the review of the total nine departments that are
associated with the development of the minorities. I have no
hesitation in telling that the result of our assessments are far
from satisfactory. Hence we proposed the formation of the
Legislators' Committee to monitor the schemes", said Arif Naseem
Khan.
The committee would work in line with
the committees formed to take care of the developments of SCs/STs and
other reserved categories. Its report would be tabled in the
assembly for the discussion, he said.
Formed in February 2008, the Ministry
for the Development of Minorities is the only one of its kind in the
entire country. It was established by the Government of Maharashtra
after the establishment of the Minority Affairs Ministry at the
centre.
Interestingly, former Minister Anees
Ahmed after taking the charge of the ministry in the erstwhile
government had also accused the funds for the development of
minorities approve even by the cabinet are not been released by the
finance department.
Besides the Legislators' Committee, one
more committee chaired by the Chief Minister would take the review
of the development works after every 3-4 months, he said.
Moreover, he said, the government
would make the concerned officers and district heads accountable if
they are properly utilizing the funds meant for the minorities as
proposed by the central as well as state government.
"In Prime Minister's 15-point program
for the development of the minorities, it is proposed to utilize 15%
budget of every department should be utilized for uplift of
minorities. Unless we monitor, the target will be never achieved",
said Arif Nassem Khan.
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