The Assam Cabinet Sunday announced that the government would issue “minority certificates” to six religious communities — Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis.
“This is the first time such certificates would be handed out,” Assam Health & Family Welfare minister, Keshab Mahanta, said while addressing the press after the Cabinet meeting in Guwahati. He added that the modalities of the decision are still being figured out.
Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Mahanta said that it would help in “identification.” “We have a number of schemes for minorities, we have a separate department for minorities… But who are the minorities? There is no identification. We need to identify them so that such schemes reach them,” Mahanta said, adding that the request for certificates came from the Assam Minorities Development Board.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Habib Mohammad Chowdhury, the Chairman of the Minorities Development Board, said that the move would “benefit” the minorities of Assam, especially in availing government schemes. “This has been our longstanding demand. Often, without a certificate, we face issues when it comes to government schemes, and even scholarships or exams,” he said. “Students are unable to prove their minority status and cannot avail the schemes. A lot of times, following their request, we issue official letters as proof from the [minorities] board but in many cases, they are not accepted,” he added.
He further said that the government is yet to inform them how they are going to go about issuing these certificates.
As per the 2011 Census, Hindus comprise 61.47 per cent of Assam’s total population, while Muslims constitute 34.22 per cent. Christians account for 3.74 per cent, while the percentage of Buddhists, Sikhs and Jain is less than one per cent.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
