Muslims partly responsible for their backwardness:Mungekar

New Delhi, Jan 16 (UNI) Planning Commission Member Bhalachandra Mungekar today held the Muslims partly responsible for their being left behind other communities in the process of development.

While accepting that Muslims have suffered discrimination, Dr Mungekar said the community too never brought development in the forefront of its agenda.

He was speaking at the Annual State Minority Commissions' Conference here.

He said Muslims had never made use of their numerical strength to push any constructive agenda for their own benefit.

He exhorted them to make full use of the rights they enjoyed under the constitution to catch up with others who had moved ahead.

Dr Mungekar, however, felt that the state needed to be more responsive to the special requirement of those who were lagging behind for some reason or the other.

He also felt that the existing structure of the National Commission for Minorities and state minorities commissions, their status and the allocation of funds was not sufficient to make them deliver any goods.

Dr Mungekar said he would soon call a meeting of the NCM and state commissions with the Planning Commission to discuss the issue.

Disagreeing with a member on the need of a Minority Sub-plan, he said if the Prime Minister's 15 point programme for minorities was implemented, there would be no great need of such a sub-plan as the Prime Minister's Plan covered all those points which were sought to be included in that sub-plan.

UNI NAZ PDP MSJ KP1540