'Flagship govt programmes improved literacy among Muslims'

Two flagship government programmes aimed at improving the lot of minorities have done "appreciable" work, marking a rise in literacy rate among Muslims, a Union minister said today.
"Prime Minister's New 15 Point Programme and Multi-sectoral Development Programme have pushed up socio-economic indicators among Muslims, who are considered the most backward among all minorities," Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan said.
Speaking at a conference of principal secretaries and secretaries of states and UTs to review the implementation of both schemes, he said more than 33,000 new primary and upper primary schools were opened in districts with substantial minority population between 2006-07 and 2012-13 under 15 Point Programme.

In the same period, about 23,800 primary and upper primary schools were constructed and 555 new Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas were sanctioned in such districts.
"Further, more than 22 lakh Indira Awas Yojana houses have been constructed for minorities under 15 Point Programme since 2006-07 till 2012-13," he said.
Quoting the India Human Development Report of the Planning Commission, Khan said literacy rate among Muslims has registered a marked improvement from 52.1 per cent in 1999-2000 to 63.5 per cent in 2007-08 for rural areas and from 69.8 per cent to 75.1 per cent for urban areas.

"The literacy rate of Muslims as ratio of national average has gone up from 0.93 in 1999-2000 to 0.95 in 2007-08 for rural areas and from 0.87 to 0.89 in urban areas," he said.

Under MsDP, he said projects worth about Rs 6,000 crore have been sanctioned and Rs 4,272 crore has been released to states and UTs till September 2013 since its inception in 2008 to create socio-economic infrastructure and provide basic amenities in minority concentration areas.
Work for more than 700 school buildings, 18,000 class rooms and 562 hostels for boys and girls have been taken up for the welfare of minorities and 113 ITIs and 44 polytechnics would also be created up under this programme.