Ministry of Minority Affairs

The Ministry of Minority Affairs is the ministry in the Government of India which was carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and created on 29 January 2006. It is the apex body for the central government's regulatory and developmental programmes for the minority religious communities and minority linguistic communities in India, which include Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains notified as minority religious communities in The Gazette of India under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.

The current minister is Kiren Rijiju who has been in office since 10 June 2024, and the Minister of State is George Kurian (since June 2024).

Character
The ministry is also involved with the linguistic minorities and of the office of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, representation of the Anglo-Indian community, protection and preservation of non-Muslim shrines in Pakistan and Muslim shrines in India in terms of the Pant-Mirza Agreement of 1955, in consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs. The Minister in charge is also Chairperson of the Central Wakf Council, India, which manages the running of the State Wakf Boards. Ministry of Minority Affairs provides Moma scholarship to minority community students of India every year. Moma Scholarship is a scholarship scheme of the Ministry of Minority Affairs initiated with the aim of supporting minority communities student who is not financially strong and wants to pursue higher studies in India. Minority communities in India includes Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains. The scholarship is awarded to the students by India Government through State Government/UTs. The scholarship is awarded for the undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Linguistic Minorities, according to Indian Constitution should have a Special Officer appointed.

Constitutional Article: 350B.
 * There shall be a Special Officer for linguistic minorities to be appointed by the President.
 * It shall be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under this Constitution and report to the President upon those matters at such intervals as the President may direct, and the President shall cause all such reports to be laid before each House of Parliament, and sent to the Governments of the States concerned.

It is to be decided based on states as the states have been formed on linguistic basis.

Cabinet Ministers
The Minister of Minority Affairs is the head of the Ministry of Minority Affairs and one of the cabinet ministers of the Government of India.


 * Note: MoS, I/C – Minister of State with Independent Charge

Organisations

 * Constitutional and Statutory Bodies
 * Central Wakf Council (CWC)
 * National Commission for Minorities (NCM)
 * Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities (CLM)
 * Autonomous Bodies
 * Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF)
 * PSUs and Joint Ventures
 * National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC)

Schemes & Scholarship Programmes

 * Jiyo Parsi - Scheme for containing population decline of Parsis
 * Nai Roshni - Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women
 * Nai Manzil - An Integrated Education and Livelihood Initiative for the Minority Communities
 * Nai Udaan - Support for minority students clearing prelims exam conducted by UPSC, State PSC and SSC
 * Seekho aur Kamao (Learn & Earn) - Scheme for Skill Development of Minorities
 * Hamari Dharohar - A scheme to preserve the rich heritage of Minority Communities of India under the overall concept of Indian culture
 * Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme
 * Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme
 * Merit-cum-Means Scholarship Scheme
 * Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students
 * Padho Pardesh - Scheme of Interest Subsidy on Educational Loans for Overseas Studies for the Students Belonging to the Minority Communities