The Assam government on Sunday said that it would issue minority certificates to Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis, NDTV reported.
Assam Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said the decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
“We are starting it now for the first time,” Mahanta said at a media briefing, according to The New Indian Express. “We have a Minorities Development Department, but who are the minorities? There was no certificate-based identification of the minorities. Now, they will have the certificates.”
The move came a month after Sarma had said that the definition of religious minorities in the state should differ district-wise.
He had said that there has been a perception that only Muslims are minorities in India.
“In Assam, they [Muslims] are no longer minorities in several districts,” Sarma had said. “Now, Hindus can also be minorities in one state depending on the situation and threat perception.”
At Sunday’s briefing, Mahanta said that the move would help minorities avail themselves of government schemes, adding that modalities of the decision are still being figured out.
He also said that the request regarding certificates came from the Assam Minorities Development Board, The Indian Express reported.
“This has been our longstanding demand,” Minorities Development Board chairperson Habib Mohammad Chowdhury told the newspaper. “Often, without a certificate, we [minorities] face issues when it comes to government schemes, and even scholarships or exams”
He further added: “Students are unable to prove their minority status and cannot avail the schemes. A lot of times, following their request, we issue official letters as proof from the [minorities] board but in many cases, they are not accepted.”
According to the 2011 Census, Hindus comprise 61.47% of Assam’s total population of 3.12 crore. Muslims constitute 34.22% of the population and are in majority in several districts. The Christian community forms 3.74% of the total number of people in the state, while Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains together are less than 1%.
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