Inclusion of Jains as a minority community under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act, 1992

No: ----- Dated: Jan, 20 2014

Inclusion of Jains as a minority community under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act, 1992

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for inclusion of Jains as a minority under Section 2 (c ) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 and the Attorney General through the Ministry of Law and Justice has opined that this would be neither be illegal nor unconstitutional. The Cabinet approved the inclusion of Jains in the list of notified minority communities under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 pending the outcome of court cases in addition to the five communities already notified as minorities under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.These communities are Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs and Zoroastrians (Parsis)

Background:

Under Section 2(c) of National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act, 1992, five religious communities; Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis are declared as minority communities through a Government Notification issued in October 1993. Thereafter, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been receiving regular representations and RTI applications for inclusion of Jains as a minority community under this Section.