Assam to issue minority certificates to six communities: What is it and who will benefit?

The Assam government has decided to provide minority certificates to minority communities in the state. The proposal was passed in the state Cabinet meeting in the capital Dispur on Sunday. Which communities will get the certificates? The state government has said that the certificates will be handed over to six communities – Muslims , Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis. This is the first time such certificates are being handed out in the state, said Assam health and family welfare minister Keshab Mahanta. However, the finer details are yet to be worked out. How will this certificate help minorities? In the Cabinet meeting, it was pointed out that unlike the Scheduled Caste or Backward Caste certificates, there are no certificates for minorities , said Mahanta. “By minorities, a particular community is generally identified, now this certificate will help all minorities. We have decided to give the certificate so that these people can benefit from the schemes meant for the minorities initiated by the minorities’ welfare department,” he said, according to NDTV. He said that there was a need to identify minorities so that various government schemes that are implemented keeping them in mind can reach them. “We have a number of schemes for minorities, we have a separate department for minorities… We need to identify them so that such schemes reach them,” Mahanta said, adding that the request for the certificate came from Assam Minorities Development Board. Habib Mohammad Chowdhury, chairman of the Minorities Development Board, told The Indian Express that the certificates would help minorities in Assam to avail government schemes. “Often, without a certificate, we face issues when it comes to government schemes, and even scholarships or exams,” he told the newspaper. “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,” he added. He hailed the decision as historic and said that the move should “not be viewed as a political agenda”. What is the Opposition saying? Opposition leaders have called the move by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) divisive. According to opposition parties and some minority institutions, since the Constitution already mentions which communities in India deserve the minority status, the decision to issue minority certificates was uncalled for. “This will further the BJP’s divisive agenda. It will create division among various minority communities and help further the ruling party’s plans of creating more cracks in society,” Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah told Hindustan Times. There was no need for the state to provide separate identity documents to minorities, said Md Aminul Islam, organising secretary of All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), suspecting the ruling BJP could have a “divisive agenda” behind the decision. Where does this decision stem from? In March, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that the definition of a minority needs to be reassessed. “Minority definition must change district by district depending upon the geography, population and threat perception. There is no definition as to who are linguistic minorities. How many people need to speak a language to make the same a minority or majority language? From the Supreme Court judgments, it is inferred that states are the unit of determining linguistic minority for states that were reorganised on the basis of language,” he had said during an address to the state Assembly. According to the 2011 Census , of Assam’s population of 3.12 crore, Hindus comprise 61.47 per cent of the total population and Muslims constitute 34.22 per cent. Christians account for 3.74 per cent, while the percentage of Buddhists, Sikhs and Jain is less than one per cent. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.