Date:11/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/11/stories/2008101151110300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Vellore

“Minorities panel may get more powers”

Special Correspondent

Minorities Commission holds consultative meeting with representatives in Vellore district

Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan

Addressing issues: Vincent Chinnadurai, Chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Minorities Commission (third from right), addressing a consultative meeting with minority community representatives at the Collectorate in Vellore on Friday. . —

VELLORE: The Chief Minister has issued an order a few days ago that in the event of delay in obtaining community certificates, it would be sufficient for the minority community students to make a self-declaration about the community to which they belong, at the time of applying for educational loans, according to Vincent Chinnadurai, Chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Minorities Commission.

He was talking to reporters after holding a consultative meeting with minority community representatives of Vellore district, along with another Commission member V.M. Mouriya Methapal at the Collectorate here on Friday.

Rev.Fr. Chinnadurai said that the Chief Minister issued the order following representations from the minority community students that they could not apply for education loans from banks in view of the difficulties they had in obtaining community certificates in time from the revenue authorities.

The Chief Minister had said that such certificates were not necessary and that it was sufficient for the students to give a self-declaration certificate about their minority status while applying for loans.

Rev.Fr. Chinnadurai said that in the light of the Commission having been made a statutory authority under law, the State Minorities Commission would soon be empowered to grant minority educational institution status . Following the Kumbakonam school fire tragedy, the Tamil Nadu government had made it mandatory for all minority educational institutions in the State to renew their minority institution certificates every year, and this resulted in difficulties for the institutions in renewing their certificates. The Commission is expecting the order empowering it to renew the certificate, he said.

About the government’s decision on the request of Christian institutions in Kanyakumari district to abolish the 3.5 per cent internal reservation granted to Christians out of the 30 per cent reservation for Backward Classes in government jobs and seats in educational institutions in view of the fact that this led to a majority of the Christian candidates being denied seats in educational institutions owing to their being in a majority in that district, Fr. Chinnadurai said that the experience gained after implementation of the reservation formula for the minority Christians and Muslims this year revealed that the 3.5 per cent internal reservation was not beneficial to the Christians not only in Kanyakumari district but also throughout Tamil Nadu. Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes Commission M.S. Janarthanan, who heard representations for abolition of reservation for Christians at a special meeting to review the implementation of the reservation for minorities held at Chennai on October 8, had recommended to the government to abolish the reservation for Christians. The Chief Minister is expected to announce a “good decision” on this recommendation on Monday, Rev.Fr. Chinnadurai said.

On the plea of Muslim minority educational institutions in Vellore district for making a State-level recruitment of Urdu teachers to immediately fill existing vacancies in the Muslim minority aided schools in all districts, since the current district-level recruitment prevented Urdu teachers in Vellore district from being posted in similar schools in other districts to fill vacancies there, he said steps would be taken to rectify the lacuna after consultation with the School Education Minister and the Chief Minister. The plea for extension of nutritious meal scheme to unaided minority schools would be taken to the notice of the Chief Minister and a suitable decision taken, he said.

Rev.Fr. Chinnadurai said that a girls hostel for Muslim minority students would be opened in Vaniyambadi this year. The land has been selected. This would be one of the 10 Muslim minority girls’ hostels to be started in Tamil Nadu based on the report of the Sachar Committee. The entire amount of Rs.2.4 crore sanctioned for the grant of loans to minority community in Vellore district in 2008-09 comprising Rs.one crore of individual loans, Rs.one crore of micro credit and Rs.40 lakh of educational loans has fully reached the beneficiaries, he said.