Ukhand to get Rs 157 cr for development of minorities

Uttarakhand will receive Rs 157 crore from the Centre for the Multi Sectoral Development Plan (MSDP) under the 12th five-year-plan for the financial and educational development of the minority communities.
The state level committee of the MSDP forwarded a proposal of Rs 157 crore to the Centre for sanction at a meeting presided by Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar yesterday, official sources said here today.
The amount will be spent over MSDP projects under way in 14 blocks of the state, they said.
Secretary (Minority Welfare) Ajay Pradyot said the ambit of the 12th five year plan has been widened to include Garhwal's forest dwellings, Udhamsingh Nagar district's Rudrapur, Jaspur, Kashipur, Bajpur and Sitarganj blocks and forest dwellings, Haridwar's Bhagwanpur, Roorkee, Narsan, Bahadarabad, Laksar areas besides its forest dwellings and Dehradun district's Vikasnagar block.

The MSDP will run in these areas between 2013 and 2017, he said.
Madarsas recognised by the Madarsa boards are being registered and so far 44 recognised Madarsas have been covered under the mid-day meal and other schemes.

Modernisation of Madarsa education is also under way, he said adding vacant posts of Urdu teachers will soon be filled.
Besides this, scholarships have been distributed among meritorious students from minority communities, Pradyot said.
Under a new initiative, the scholarships-distribution system is being made online through which the scholarships will directly be remitted into the beneficiaries' account, he said.
Several self-employment schemes are being run for poor people and ITIs and polytechnics are being established in areas where minority communities reside, he said.

For financial support and activities, loan assistance is being provided. In slums, cleanliness drives and improvement measures are being undertaken, he said.