Book of Integration Council New - Ministry of Home Affairs

It is learnt that there is a move to include certain sections of Muslim and
Christians as Scheduled Castes. However, reservation for SC/ST is provided
under the Constitution, as discrimination on certain grounds led to fewer
opportunities for these sections of the society. Reservation on religious grounds
for some section of Minorities as scheduled castes undermines the Constitutional
spirit behind the provision. I caution this august forum that such a decision
without proper deliberation will prove detrimental to national integration.
6. Promotion of Education among minorities, Scheduled Casted and
scheduled Tribes :
Gujarat is determined to improve literacy rate and provide easy access to
education for all sections of the society as it does not discriminate its 5.5
crore population. Gujarat has taken up unique initiative in the form of an
annual campaign to ensure 100% enrollment in the primary schools irrespective
of caste, creed, religion or sex. Through the massive drive for enrolment in the
primary school and "Kanya Kelvani" campaigns we have achieved almost 100%
enrolment. The drop-out rate which was over 37% in 2001-02 has been reduced
to less than 3%
The overall literacy rate of the state is 69.14%. Literacy rate among
Scheduled castes is 70.50% and among Muslims it is 73.47%. The Sachar
committee has highlighted that the literacy rate among Muslims in Gujarat at
73.47% is not only higher than state average of 69.14% but also way above the
all India literacy rate of Muslims at 59.1%
We have taken an important initiative of public-private partnership for
conducting short term vocationally useful courses using the existing premises
of government schools and colleges. This initiative is spearheaded by "Gujarat
Knowledge Society" which has drawn up plans to run hundreds of courses
targeting thousands of batches and lakhs of students in the next two years.
Such efforts have started bearing fruits. For example, some creative inputs and
skill development have led to massive increase in production and marketing of
quality kites by the artisans in the state.
This initiative of skill development, I am sure, will be a path breaking
initiative in the country, whereby the skill gap between what is demanded in the
market and what is supplied by the education system is filled up through such
short-term courses.
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