Today is Eid al-Adha; the day of acceptance of Haj, the holiest pilgrimage of the Islam. Due to the strengthened relations of India with Saudi Arabia under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, this year, for the first time in the history of India, more than 1 lakh 75 thousand Indian Muslims have gone for Haj pilgrimage. These include 48 percent women.

This year’s Haj is historic. Besides, record number of more than 1 lakh 75 thousand Indian Muslims being on the pilgrimage; Haj 2018 is also being taken place without any subsidy. Also, for the first time, Muslim women have gone to Haj this year without “Mehram” (male companion). For the first time, more than 100 women Haj assistants and coordinators have been deployed in Saudi Arabia to assist Haj pilgrims. We all know that Indian Muslims had been exploited politically for the last several decades and their socio-economic-educational empowerment was “neglected intentionally” under a “planned political conspiracy”. This resulted into backwardness of Muslim community in terms of socio-economic-educational progress.

The Modi Government, during about last 4 years, has worked with approach of “Development with Dignity”, “Empowerment without Appeasement”. This approach has ensured that the light of development reaches to every needy person of the society including Muslim community. The Modi Government has worked with making the backwards and weaker sections as central point of its welfare measures which has ensured that Muslims have also become an equal partner of the development of the country. I want to give a few examples of welfare steps taken by the Modi Government for the progress of Minorities:

During the last about 4 years, the Modi Government’s “Empowerment without Appeasement” policy has ensured that record 2 crore 66 lakh students belonging to poor and weaker sections of Minorities have been benefitted from various scholarship programmes. About 1 crore 21 lakh girls and women have been benefitted from Nai Roushni, Begum Hajrat Mahal Girls Scholarship. School dropout rate among Muslim girls, which was earlier more than 70 per cent, has now been reduced to about 35-40 per cent due to awareness and educational empowerment programmes of the Modi Government. Our goal is to bring it down to zero per cent.

Ministry of Minority Affairs has worked with commitment to “3E- Education, Employment & Empowerment”. In the last about one year, thousands of educational institutions of all Minority communities including Madarsas, have been included in the mainstream education system by connecting them with "3T-Teacher, Tiffin, Toilet". More than 5 lakh 43 thousand youths have been provided employment and employment opportunities through job-oriented skill development schemes such as Seekho aur Kamao, Usttad, Garib Nawaz Kaushal Vikas Yojana, Nai Manzil etc. During the last 1 year, more than 1 lakh 18 thousand artisans have been provided employment and employment opportunities and national as well as international markets through “Hunar Haat”. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi-led Government has expanded development programmes for Minorities in 308 districts of the country from just 100 districts earlier. For the first time after the Independence, a campaign has been started on war-footing to provide basic amenities to ensure educational empowerment of girls belonging to Minority communities in 308 districts across the country. The Modi Government, keeping in mind the educational empowerment and employment oriented skill development of Minorities especially girls, is providing school, college, polytechnic, girls hostel, ITI, skill development centre etc under “Pradhanmantri Jan Vikas karykram” (PMJVK) in those “backward and ignored” areas which had been deprived of these facilities since the Independence. During about last 4 years, under PMJVK, 16 Degree Colleges, 2019 School Building, 37,267 Additional Classrooms, 1141 Hostels, 170 Industrial Training Institutes(ITIs), 48 Polytechnics, 38,736 Anganwadi Centres, 3,48,624 houses, 340 multi-purpose community hall Sadbhavna Mandaps, 67 Gurukul-type Residential Schools, 436 Market sheds, 4436 Health Projects etc have been constructed by the Modi Government.

This has led to significant improvement in lives of weaker sections, Minorities especially women. Besides, 37 percent beneficiaries of “Mudra Yojana” are Minorities. They have been provided employment and employment opportunities through this Central Government scheme. 31 percent beneficiaries of “Ujjawala Yojana” are minorities. Similarly, weaker sections of the Minorities have been benefitted significantly through other welfare programmes of the Modi Government.

The Modi Government’s step to grant constitutional status to OBC Commission has impacted positively several sections of backwards in Minority communities. Hundreds of backward sections of Muslim community such as Kahar, Kewat-Mallah, Kumhar, Kunjda, Gujjar, Gaddi-Ghosi, Qureshi, Jogi, Mali, Teli, Darji, Nut, Fakir, Banjara, Badhyi, Bhatiyara, Chudidar, Momin-Julaha, Muslim Kayasth, Mansuri, Dhuniya, Rangrej, Lohar, Halwayi, Hajjam, Dhobi, Bhishti, Mochi, Raj-Mistri etc have been feeling proud after this decision of the Modi Government.

The Modi Government’s policy of "Development with Dignity”, without any discrimination, has ensured that this year, for the first time after the Independence, record 131 minority communities’ youths including 51 Muslims have been selected in Civil Services. Last year also, 126 youths belonging to minority communities, including 52 Muslims, had been selected in the prestigious civil services. The representation of Minorities in the Central Government jobs, which was about 4.9 percent in 2014, has now increased to 9.8 percent.