Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday assured minority MNAs that the government would form a new ministry for dealing with the issues faced by the minorities and all steps would be taken to ensure their uplift. He said the government would ensure implementation on the five percent job quota in judiciary, armed forces and other national institutions for minorities. A source told Pakistan Today that the prime minister held a detailed meeting with legislators from minorities and accepted all demands put forward by the delegation.
Gilani told the delegation that the government had constituted a three-member committee to examine the restructuring of the Ministry of Minorities, which would give recommendations to take care of the problems of the minority groups in the country, the source said, adding that the committee consists of principal secretary to the prime minister and the cabinet and establishment division secretaries.
“The prime minister said two names were under consideration for the new ministry which would either be called the ministry of non-Muslim Community Development and Integration or Ministry of Interfaith Harmony and non-Muslim Affairs,” the source said, adding that all the subjects of the ministry of minorities, which were placed under the ministry of human rights for the time being, would be returned to the new ministry.
They added that the government was considering following the tradition set by the Bangladeshi government to name the minorities’ ministry as ministry of non-Muslim Community Development and Integration.
A press release said the prime minister assured the delegation that the Minorities’ Development Fund meant for the group’s uplift and economic empowerment through development schemes and financial assistance would not lapse and would be equally distributed among 12 minority MNAs, including two women MNAs.
The prime minister said in accordance with the spirit of the 18th Amendment, he would direct the provincial governments to cater for the needs of the minorities in their respective Public Sector Development Programmes, while he assured that the federal government would accommodate the minorities in the Prime Minister’s Development Programmes as well as the federal PSDP.
“On demand by Akram Masih Gill, the leader of the delegation, the prime minister directed the Establishment Division to ensure five percent quota for minorities, as decided earlier, in all the federal government institutions, including the judiciary and the armed forces for true empowerment and economic uplift of the people of minorities.
He further mentioned that the quota of the minorities in the parliamentary secretariats and judiciary would also be duly catered for by the respective institutions,” the sources said.
Gilani also asked Gill to prepare a broad-based comprehensive programme for the addressing the grievances of the minorities.
The members of the minorities’ delegation expressed complete confidence in the leadership of the prime minister and his commitment to serve the rights of the minorities.
