Modi govt takes stock of minority schemes

New Delhi: Amid allegations of 'intolerance", government on Friday took stock of the progress on implementation of minority welfare schemes and asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was keen on ensuring that there is no laxity in working for upliftment of minorities, poor and downtrodden.

Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi took stock of the schemes during a meeting here with officials of 17 ministries and departments with an aim of plugging loopholes if any.

The Prime Minister's 15-point programme for empowerment of minorities was particularly reviewed.

At the meeting, Naqvi asserted that the Prime Minister is keen that there should be no laxity in implementing schemes meant for uplifting socio-economic standards of minorities, the poor and the downtrodden and that the process should be accelerated from the ground level.

"The meeting also took note how the number of incidents of communal clashes has gone down over the past year," he said.

In the meeting, the government discussed issues including ways to improve the employment status of minorities, facilitate their bank loans as also Indira Awas Yojana by ensuring better co-ordination amongst various departments in progamme implementation.

The government is also giving emphasis on periodical review of the implementation of the programmes and carry out physical surveys to check any leakage in the delivery mechanism.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from ministries including Home, Finance, HRD and others besides NITI Ayog.