New Delhi, Feb 21 (PTI) Priority sector lending to

minorities has exceeded 15 per cent in the current financial year, the government said today.
"For financial inclusion, the flow of priority sector credit to minorities at the national level during 2012-13 reached Rs 1,71,960 crore as on September 30 last year, which was more than 15 per cent of the total priority sector lending," President Pranab Mukherjee said in his address to Parliament.
The President also chose the occasion to point out that the Wakf Act is being amended and said a Wakf Development Corporation will be set up for development and protection of Wakf properties.
Poor representation of minorities in priority sector lending has been an area of concern for the government for last many years and an improvement is considered a step forward for creation and sustenance of self-employment initiatives among the targeted group.

Government sources had said that priority sector lending by public sector banks to minorities has risen from 10.6 per cent in 2007-08 to 15.01 per cent in 2012-13 as on September 30, 2012.
A total of Rs 1,71,960.71 crore was lent to minorities, as on September 30, 2012, according to an official statement by the Ministry of Minority Affairs issued sometime back.

"In absolute terms, priority sector lending to minorities has jumped from Rs 58,662.67 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 1,71,960.71 crore as on September 30, 2012 -- an almost three-fold increase during this period," the statement had said.
The bill to bring effective changes in the management of Wakf properties across the country is before the Union Cabinet.

The draft amendment Bill, 2010 to bring changes in the Wakf Act, 1995, carries proposals to strengthen Wakf institutions and streamline their functioning with an eye on addressing the problem of rampant encroachment of Wakf properties in the country.