New Delhi, Feb 5 (Inditop.com) The government has approved Maharastra’s Hingoli district as a minority concentration district bringing to 77 the number of such areas where special attention is being paid to improve the socio-economic parameters and quality of life of people.
The ministry of minority affairs has approved Hingoli, which is one of the four minority concentration districts (MCD) in the state, under its special multi-sectoral development programme for the welfare of minorities, an official statement said Friday.
An MCD is the one where minority population is 20 percent or more and the quality of life of the people there is below average.
“Now the total number of MCDs whose district plans have been approved by the ministry has gone up to 77,” the statement said.
The thrust of the minority development scheme is to address the “development deficits” and bring people in such areas at par with the national average.
Financial assistance is made available to these districts to address backwardness in terms literacy, work participation, status of houses, drinking water and electricity supply.
Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Parsis have been notified as minority communities in India. As per the 2001 census, the minorities in the country constitute about 18.4 percent of the total population of the country, of which Muslims are 13.4 percent, Christians 2.3, Sikhs 1.9, Buddhists 0.8 and Parsis 0.007 percent.
