Zafar Agha, Member, National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (MCMEI), on Saturday warned that minority institutions would lose their status if they failed to renew it.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the MCMEI and Confederation of Minority Institutions of Tamil Nadu here, he said the Minority Educational Institutions Act enacted in 2004-05 had mandated all institutions run by Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Paresis, Buddhists and Jains to get their status through their State governments. As per the available data, about 4,000 institutions had received the minority status since 2004.
Thousands of intuitions across the country were yet to apply for the status.
As per the Act, Mr. Agha said all States should appoint nodal officers for granting the minority status based on documents and proof submitted by the minority Trusts. They had to clear the applications within 90 days. If the applicants failed to receive proper communication from the State government, they could directly apply to the MCMEI.
Though the Central government had allotted Rs.15,000 crore for minority welfare, it had mostly remained unutilised. . Similarly, there were not many takers for the minority welfare schemes being implemented by the Tamil Nadu government.
The educational institutions and forums, therefore, should take a lead role in creating awareness among the minority people.
