No Minority Status for Educational Institutes on Linguistic Basis: HRD Ministry

Minister of Human Resource Development (State), Mr. Satya Pal Singh confirmed that the Union HRD Ministry would not grant minority status to the educational institutes on linguistic status. The National Commission for Minorities Educational Institutions (NCMEI) will grant minority status to educational institutes on the basis of six religious communities, he added.

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As per NCMEI Act 2004, the minority status to educational institutes will be applicable to the following religious communities: -

• Jains
• Zoroastrians (Parsis)
• Buddhists
• Sikhs
• Christians
• Muslims

The NCMEI Act of 2004 will not cover linguistic minorities. Therefore, no agency is empowered to issue minority certificate to educational institutes on linguistic basis. The Government of India does not have any plans to grant minority status to institutes on linguistic perspective. A similar confirmation was also given in Lok Sabha in January 2018.

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Last year, Minister of State (Parliamentary Affairs), Mr. Mukhtar Abbas confirmed that the central government would set up five educational institutes for minorities with an aim to provide quality and better education in Technical, Medical, Ayurveda and Unani fields. A committee was constituted to prepare a perspective plan for setting up these institutions. The committee has submitted its report, and a final decision will be taken soon in this regard. These institutes will reserve 40% seats for girls.

Among the proposed five educational institutes for minorities, the central government has given the nod to set up an International Educational Institute for Minorities with all world-class facilities.