Gujarat prepares Rs 500-cr kite-making project for minorities
New Kerala
Ahmedabad, Feb 8 : Chief Minister Narendra Modi today told the visiting Prime Minister’s high-level committee on Minorities that Gujarat Government has prepared a Rs 500-cr project for modernisation of kite-making industry.
He said 98 per cent of people in the kite making activity belonged to minority committee, press release said here today.
Mr Modi said the government also plans to set up a handicraft training institute at Bhuj in Kutch district, primarily to train the Kutchi women in their traditional embroidery and other cottage industries.
He said that government is against dividing the society on majority and minority community lines. Rather, its constant endeavour is to uplift the socio-economic status of the have-nots.
Education Minister Anandiben Patel, Social Justice Empowerment Minister Ramanlal Vora, Minister of State for Home Amit Shah and senior officers were present on the occasion.
The team is led by Justice Rajindar Sachar while Dr Abu Saleh Shariff is the member-secretary and Dr S Jafar Mehmud is OSD. Other members of the committee are educationist Saiyeed Hamid, sociologist Dr T K Oommen, planner Mr M A Basith, economist Dr Rakesh Basant, and academician Dr Akhtar Majeed.
Earlier, they held a detailed discussion with senior State government officers here and acquainted themselves about various schemes for the minorities.
The team members were impressed by the state’s all round progress, in the field of agriculture, water conservation, infrastructure and primary education. They were particularly impressed by government efforts to reduce school drop-out rate and spread girls’ education, the release said.
The government side was led by Chief Secretary Sudhir Mankad, besides Principal Secretaries of departments concerned and Commissioner for Cottage Industries.
The committee, appointed by the Centre to prepare a report on the ‘Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India’, is on a four-day visit and has interacted with people drawn from a cross-section of the society yesterday.
