The Centre has proposed to include a Rs 1,000 crore package in the ninth plan for the development of minorities with thrust on education, Union information and civil aviation minister C M Ibrahim said here yesterday at the inauguration of the 19th All-India Urdu Conference.
The conference has been organised by the Urdu Educational Committee. Ibrahim said the United Front (UF) government is giving more importance to minority development.
He said after 50 years of independence, the government has appointed a person from the minority community as member of the cabinet committee on political affairs (CCP). (Ibrahim is the member of the decision making body). Claiming that the UF government has resolved the Kashmir problem, Ibrahim said a popular government has been installed in the valley under the leadership of National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah.
The vexed Babri Masjid-Ayodhya issue would be resolved soon, he added.
The minister said the foundation for the Abdul Kalam Azad Urdu University in the city would be laid soon by Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.
Official sources said that the department faced constraints in the implementation of various schemes because banking facilities were not enough to cover the villages in blocks. As a result, subsidy sanctioned against a scheme could not be supported with matching bank loans for financing a scheme with minimum investment for a viable productive unit.
Moreover, lack of infrastructural support and absence of marketing outlets due to lack of road communication hindered income generation.
The government would also extend grants and aid for making them self reliant in food, housing, education, healthcare and social education, sources said.
