– Shabana Javed
Kolkata, Feb. 11: Since the Trinamool Congress government has come to power, the budget for minority development has increased to Rs 4,500 crore, state Minister Firhad Hakim said here Saturday.
In a major boost to minority affairs and madrasa education, the department has allocated Rs 5530.65 crore for the financial year 2024-2025 in the state budget presented at the Assembly.
During the budget presentation, Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said more than 24 lakh students have been given scholarships under the Oikyasree Merit Scheme. 1,290 meritorious students from minority communities have been given education loans for their studies. To encourage self-initiative and self-employed work projects in professional, technical and vocational matters, arrangements have been made to provide loans, micro-loans of various tenures to self-help groups. Loans have been given to 4,412 beneficiaries this year. 132.38 crore has been disbursed to 45,113 SHG members.
Bhattacharya also said Meena Manch, a joint initiative of UNICEF and education partner Vikramshila Educational Resort Society, is continuing projects like financial literacy courses, quality training and skill development programs and career support programs for 50,000 students of 103 madrasas in Murshidabad district. 605 hostels have been built so that students from minority families can study near the school, out of which 433 have become operational. A grant of 10,000 is given annually for the hostel expenses of the students. Work has been undertaken to create 305 Karmatirthas or marketing hubs for self-reliance of minorities, which will help artisans and farmers market their products. So far 266 workplaces are operational in the state.
Bhattacharya said West Bengal Minority Development and Finance Corporation, Director of Madrasa Education, State Hajj Committee, West Bengal Urdu Academy provide coaching and counseling and career guidance to thousands of students every year. As a result, many students are fulfilling their dreams by passing exams like WBCS. Alia University has been working for the spread of education among minorities for the past few years. This year 122 students have cleared NET, SET, GATE exams of various departments. 26 students have obtained PhD degrees from the university.
The Department of Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education is doing various works for the development of minorities. Cemetery walls, rural infrastructure development, English medium madrasas, and vocational skill development training programs are working on infrastructure development.
The state government has allocated Rs 20 crore for the project which includes the cultural centre to have exhibition halls, training and coaching centers, meeting halls and so on. Under the scheme, training is to be provided to the members of the minority communities through the centre enabling the creation of job opportunities for them.
