NEW DELHI: National Integration Council (NIC), an apex body mandated to fight communalism, casteism, regionalism and parochialism, has not met since the Narendra Modi government came to power. The last meeting took place in September, 2013, when the UPA government was in power.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai said NIC meetings are convened as per requirement. He added there is no regular or specified interval for convening these meetings. “However, issues of communal harmony and national integration are addressed continuously by the government,” Rai said, in a reply in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
NIC was formed in 1962. It has held 16 meetings so far. Issues such as Kashmir and Punjab problems, Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, role of media, equitable development and removal of regional imbalances, promoting feeling of security among minorities and other vulnerable sections, women’s safety have been discussed at these meetings.