Within days of taking charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has cracked the whip. He has reshuffled officials to make the ministry more lean and efficient with an eye on the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections. He will be traveling across the country to hardshell his ministry’s initiative. Naqvi’s mission will be to connect a bridge between the government and the minorities and allay their fears.
Naqvi, who was given independent charge of the ministry following the exit of Najma Heptulla at the recent Union Cabinet rejig, has put joint secretary S K Dev Verman in charge of crucial scholarships programmes and other flagship schemes. The ministry had come under flak for the inefficient implementation of the pre-matric and post-matric scholarship programmes. It enrolled about 84 lakh minority students but failed to make funds available to t hem on time. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had recently invited the Prime Minister’s attention to the plight of four lakh students in the state enrolled under scholarship programmes.
The scholarship schemes were being looked after by joint secretary Dinesh Singh Bist, who had enjoyed a good equation with the former minister. He will now be handling the gender cell, the equal opportunity commission, the Justice Sachar committee and the PM’s five-point programme for the welfare of the minorities.
Flagships programmes which Verman will be looking after now are Nai Roshni, sikho aur kamao, intended at imparting skill developments to Muslim youths for gainful employment. He will also be handling execution of programmes.
“There is a feeling that despite the launch of the initiatives under Heptulla, not much has translated at the ground level,” sources said.
During his visit to the states after the monsoon session of Parliament, Naqvi will promote the initiatives and their employment opportunities. He will begin by visiting Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls next year. Naqvi may be given charge of western Uttar Pradesh as per the BJP poll strategy.