In an effort to reach out to the minorities, particularly Muslims, who are miffed with the Centre over the beef ban issue and yoga day celebrations, the Ministry of Minority Affairs is planning multi-city conclaves for direct interaction with them.
Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who is currently touring the country to address the woes of the minorities, said that from September onwards the Government is planning to host these conclaves in Delhi, Kerala, Rajasthan, Assam and Uttar Pradesh in order to connect with the Muslims.
“We are planning multi-city conclaves post Ramzan and will be calling for direct participation from the Muslim community. We need to connect with them to make the community feel safe and bring them into the mainstream,” said Naqvi, in an interaction with The Pioneer.
“Currently, I am travelling across the country to meet local leaders and representatives of minority communities in order to understand and address their grievances. So far, I have travelled to 19 States, including the big States of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
Naqvi plans to travel to the seven north-eastern States after the current Parliament session. “I have covered most States in central India and the South. Although the dates are yet to be finalised, but I should be travelling to the North-East in August,” he said.
“Once we have collated the grievances of minorities from across the country, we will try and address them at the conclaves. The conclaves will be platforms for directly communicating and engaging with the Muslim community,” he said.
Naqvi pointed out that during his extensive tour of the country he has realised that money spent by States on minority welfare is not showing results on the ground.
“I have come to realise that the funds meant for the welfare of minorities were not well-spent. It is clear that justice has not been done with regard to socio-economic and educational empowerment of minorities,” Naqvi said. “Our priority is to ensure that every rupee dedicated to the cause of minorities is well- spent and benefits the people,” he said.
He also said that the Ministry of Minority Affairs has initiated a review programme, Mission Empowerment to study and analyse welfare schemes of the minority community.
“We hope to come out with a report at the earliest. We want to bring about a definite change in the lives of the minority population that has so far been ignored,” he said.