"The best thing is to have a separate department to run Minority affairs or related works. In the present system, there is a Secretary and Commissioner (in Tamil Nadu), who function in different departments. If a single agency is set up, they may function better," Commission Vice-Chairman Dr H T Sangliana told reporters.
He said Manipur was the only state to have set up such an exclusive department.
Sangliana said special programmes for minority students could be fully implemented if there is such a department.
He said various posts in the state minorities commission, including that of its chairman, are lying vacant since the AIADMK government came to power and should be filled as early as possible.
Sangliana said he had interacted with Additional Director General of Police to hold an exclusive recruitment for minority students in Tamil Nadu as part of a scheme to provide more job opportunities to them.
He said he had also met minority community students and had a brief interaction with them yesterday.
Sangliana said one of the major issues faced by these students in Tamil Nadu was lack of awareness on various scholarships and government schemes.
To a query on recent incidents of North East students leaving cities in South India to their home towns following rumours of attacks, he termed it as an "unnecessary exodus".
