Centre: Count minorities in govt, explain if decline seen

Turning its attention to the status of the employment of minority communities in government services, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre has launched an exercise to know their exact numbers and trends.

The move comes at a time when the Prime Minister has engaged minority leaders in consultations recently to stress the “inclusive” nature of his governance.

The government has asked the secretaries of all Union ministries, besides heads of Central public undertakings (CPSUs), to submit reports on the exact number of employees from the minority communities in their respective offices. The secretaries of the Union ministries have to submit their reports to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) by this month-end, sources said, adding that CPSU heads have to give their reports to the Department of Public Enterprises.

“The move to get the numbers of the minority community in government employment is essentially to ensure their adequate representation in the Central government civil services. Also, the officials concerned have to explain the reasons if there is a declining trend,” sources said.

The note sent to the ministries and the CPSUs states that the “headcount exercise should also include the number of minority employees recruited last year”. The note also states that it should be found out if the recruitment of such employees has decreased from the previous year and, if yes, then the report should also mention the reasons for such a trend.

The government has said that if a declining trend is found, then assessment and analysis be done for remedial measures.

“In case there is a decline in the percentage of recruitment of minority communities with reference to such recruitment for the previous year, then reasons for such decline may be examined and intimated,” the government has stated.

Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains are the official minority communities. The Jain community was given minority status in 2014. The government has specified that the reports should also have data relating to people from the Jain community.

The Manmohan Singh government, following the Sachar Committee report on the status of minority communities, had sought such a headcount in the armed forces, but was vociferously opposed by the BJP at that time.