Background
The day is celebrated after the United Nations adopted the resolution A/RES/47/135– ‘Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities’ on December 18, 1992.
The day was first observed on December 18, 2013.
Points to be Noted
In 1992, the National Commission for Minorities was set up by the Government of India under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
2020 Events:
i.NCM organised Minorities Day programme.Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/c) for Housing and Urban Affairs and Minister of State for Civil Aviation presided over the celebration of Minorities day.
ii.On this occasion, NMC felicitates 12 COVID 19 warriors from all the 6 notified minority communities for their exemplary contribution to the society during the pandemic.
Establishments of Ministry & Commissions for Welfare of Minorities:
i.The Ministry of Minority Affairs was carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and created on 29th January, 2006.
ii.All the State/UTs govts have set up minority commissions in their respective state capitals.
iii.Central Waqf Council was set up in 1964 as per the provision given in the Waqf Act, 1954. It is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Minority Affairs
iv.The Organization of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities is a Constitutional body under Article 350 B of the Constitution of India
Rights in Constitution of India
The Article 25-28 of the Constitution of India provide the right to freedom of religion
Religious Communities
The Union Government initially notified 5 religious communities, viz., Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) as minority communities.
Later in 2014, Jains were also notified as another minority community.
Minorities Statistics:
- As per the 2011 Census data, minorities constitute 19.30% (23.37 crore) of India’s population.
- These include, Muslims (14.2%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.3%), Buddhists (0.7%), Jains (0.4%) and Parsis.
About National Commission for Minorities(NCM):
Vice-Chairperson– Shri Atif Rasheed
HeadQuarters– New Delhi, India
