The Assam government has decided to provide certificates to members of six minority communities.
Such a move will help the minorities possessing such a certificate avail of government benefits, Assam Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said after the State Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took the decision on Sunday.
The six communities are Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis.
“There has been a practice of issuing Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes certificates. We are starting the minority certificates for the first time,” Mr. Mahanta said.
He said Assam has had a Minorities Development Department but the minorities have not been specified by faith. “We felt the need to have certificate-based identification of the minorities with beneficiary schemes in mind,” he added.
The Cabinet also decided to pay ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh each to 288 seriously injured persons and 57 women victimised during the Assam Agitation of 1979-85.
The other decisions include payment of ₹142.5 crore against outstanding Provident Fund dues of the workers of the Assam Tea Corporation Limited and the construction of 3,007 Amrit Sarovars (ponds)worth a total of ₹1,208 crore. The construction is to be completed by August 15, 2023.
