Budget 2026- Allocation of frugal funds for Minorities is an eyewash
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By Syed Ali Mujtaba, Edited by Adam Rizvi, The India Observer, TIO: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh established the Ministry of Minority Affairs for the welfare of the Muslim minority community in 2006. This Ministry was established following the Sachar Commission’s report, which recognized that Muslims were the most educationally and economically disadvantaged group in the country.
The objective of this ministry was to address structural inequalities through targeted interventions. There were educational empowerment schemes, infrastructure and area development schemes, skill development and economic empowerment schemes, etc.
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The key schemes include scholarships (Pre/Post-Matric), PMJVK for infrastructure, and PM VIKAS for employment, aiming to bridge socioeconomic gaps between the general communities and those among the Muslim minority.
However, since 2014, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has seen persistent budget cuts, the closure of key schemes, and chronic under-spending. In many cases, the funds were never dispensed for the purpose for which it has been allocated.
The other feature is reeducation in the budgetary allocation for the welfare schemes of the minorities that are almost 20% of the Indian population.
The obvious reason is the hostility towards Muslims that has increased under the Modi rule and has cast its spell on the diminishing allocation of funds for the welfare schemes of the minorities. This is the only ministry where every successive year, the funds are being cut because it’s under constant political scanner of the growing influence of Hindutva ideology over the country.
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Minority Welfare allocation in the Budget 2026
In the Union Budget 2026, the high-power panel that looked at the education and employment pathways of the minority communities has allocated INR 3,400 crore, which is not even 5% of the total volume of the Indian budget.
The Prime Minister-Viraasat Ka Samvardhan (PMJVK) sees a cost-cutting done to this scheme. The allocation to the scheme this year is INR 303.27 crore, that got INR 312 crore in 2025-26. The cut is attributed to reducing committed liabilities.
The budgetary allocation for Pre-Metric and Post-Metric scholarship schemes is INR 198 crore and in 581 crore, respectively, which were ₹195 crore and ₹413 crore in 2025-26.
The Quami Waqf Board’s Taraqqiati Scheme and Sahari Waqf Sampati Vikas Yojna are allotted 32 crore in the 2026-27 budget, which was 13.5 crore in the 2025-26. The increase of 2.5 times is to be seen in the context of Wakaf Amendment Act. The two schemes are aimed at computerizing waqf records, protecting vacant urban waqf land from encroachers, and developing the same land for commercial purposes to generate revenue in order to widen welfare activities.
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What are the government’s schemes for the minorities?
Skill Development and Economic Empowerment
Prime Minister-Viraasat Ka Samvardhan (PMJVK) scheme is for socio-economic empowerment of minority communities through education, women entrepreneurship, and leadership training. The budget for this scheme is implemented in convergence with the Skill India Mission of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and through integration with the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH). PMJVK aims to improve infrastructure (schools, health centers, skill centers) in identified minority concentration areas. This scheme integrates earlier schemes like Seekho Aur Kamao, USTTAD, and Nai Manzil to focus on skill training, women leadership, and entrepreneurship.
Educational empowerment Schemes
Nai Roshni: Leadership development training for minority women.
Nai Udaan: Support for clearing UPSC/PSC/SSC Preliminary exams.
NMDFC Loan Schemes: National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation provides concessional loans for self-employment, with special rates for women.
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Pre-Matric, Post-Matric, and Merit-cum-Means Scholarships: Scholarships for minority students from class 1 onwards up to technical/professional courses.
Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship: Dedicated to meritorious girls belonging to minorities from classes IX to XII.
Naya Savera – Free Coaching and Allied Scheme: Coaching for entrance exams (technical/medical) and competitive exams for government jobs.
Padho Pardesh: Interest subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies.
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These government schemes are focused on educational empowerment, skill development, and infrastructure improvement of the minorities. This monetary allocation is made to give a push to various educational, skill, and infrastructure development schemes. How far they are serving the community’s interests is something that needs introspection.
Criticism of the allocation of funds for the welfare of the minorities
Given the fact that 20% of the Indian population that comes under six minority communities is allocated only INR 3,400 crore for the fiscal year 2026–27, is an eyewash.
The question raised is how much of the allocated funds the revision process survives, and how much will genuinely reach minority communities?
In the past, these funds allocated to the Ministry of Minority Affairs have been mired in scams and lost due to corruption.
All this cast a serious doubt on the BJP government’s commitment to the welfare of the minorities. If this trajectory continues, it will not be confined to merely the decline of funds for individual schemes, but to the erosion of decades-old efforts to integrate historically marginalized communities into the national mainstream.
This is to point out that the annual budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Minorities is merely an exercise in accounting, or a carefully managed narrative that conceals a deeper, more systematic indifference.
The Ministry of Minorities, which was started for the uplifting of the minorities, is now being hallowed up the current dispensation in India.
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