Members of the Jain community have hailed the decision of the Central Government to grant them the status of a national minority, a demand put forth to protect their faith and culture.
A delegation of the Jain community met UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence here on Thursday.
Earlier on Monday, the Government had decided to accord minority status to Jains.
The Cabinet approved the inclusion of Jains in the list of notified minority communities under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act 1992, pending the outcome of court cases in addition to the five communities already notified as minorities under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
The president of the Jain community, Chakresh Jain, assured that they would work in the interest of the nation.
"We had come to express gratitude to Sonia Gandhi, and we had also come to assure them that the Jain community will work in the interest of the country. We will promote the programmes initiated by the Central Government in the interest of the minorities," Jain said.
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A leader of Jain community, Lokesh Muni, lauded the efforts of the government, and welcomed the decision.
"Our main issue is that the Jain community, which was fighting a battle for a long time, has got its right and has achieved victory. The entire Jain community is welcoming the decision," Muni said.
Under Section 2(c) of National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act, 1992, five religious communities; Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis are declared as minority communities through a Government Notification issued in October 1993.
Thereafter, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been receiving regular representations and RTI applications for inclusion of Jains as a minority community under this Section.
