Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju today said the government is striving to improve the socio-economic status of all communities, including minority communities, through various schemes and incentives. In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Mr Rijiju said his Ministry specifically implements various schemes across the country for the socio-economic and educational empowerment of minority communities. The schemes and programmes implemented by the Minority Affairs Ministry include Educational Empowerment Schemes, PM VIKAS and Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakaram. Mr Rijiju said all the schemes together have contributed in the acquisition of high-level skills, greater opportunities in livelihood, high employability potential, improved access to better infrastructure, improved health and the overall welfare of the Minority Communities.
In another written reply in Lok Sabha, the Minister informed that the disbursement target of the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation, NMDFC for 2024-25 is 850 crore rupees., He said NMDFC has disbursed over 752 crore rupees to over one lakh 74 thousand beneficiaries till 10th March. NMDFC has delegated the authority to its State Channelizing Agencies to sanction, disburse and recover loans from beneficiaries. To ensure that credit support reaches genuine and deserving minority beneficiaries, the State Channelizing Agencies have adopted a multi-level screening mechanism for document verification, background checks and site inspections before sanctioning a loan.