BENGALURU: The Siddaramaiah government plans to allocate 15 per cent of the total funds to minorities in the forthcoming state budget. Of this, 10 per cent will be for Muslims. Health Minister K R Ramesh Kumar received a memorandum from various minority organisations on the occasion of International Minorities’ Rights Day organised by the Karnataka State Minorities Commission. Ramesh heads the cabinet sub-committee that has been set up to examine issues related to the socio-economic and educational upliftment of minorities.
“There has been a proposal to introduce 15 per cent reservation to minorities, of which 10 per cent will be for Muslims. The remaining will be for other minorities such as Christians, Sikhs and Parsis. We need to examine this,” he said. He also said that they have appealed to carry over the funds if they are not utilised in the financial year. “We shall discuss the same in the cabinet sub-committee meeting, which is scheduled in the last week of January,” he said.
Ramesh said: “The purpose is to enrol girl children and later bring her into the mainstream. These centres will also be maintained by women from the minority communities, thus giving them job opportunities.”
The government is also setting up an autonomous body headed by a retired judge for cases related to issues of the minorities. This is a first of its kind in India and will be opened in the next 10 days, Kumar said.
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