Jain community declared minority community

New Delhi, Oct 13 (UNI) The Delhi Government today issued an order declaring that the Jain Community shall be treated as a minority community in Delhi.

''The Chief Secretary has issued orders in the light of a judgment (AIR 1976 Del. 207) of the Delhi High Court wherein the court had held the Jain Community as a minority community for the purpose of Article 30(1) of the Indian Constitution and in order to clarify that the Jain Community may establish Minority Educational Institutions in accordance with the above stated Article,'' a Delhi Government communique said.

The issuance of the orders by the Delhi Chief Secretary comes after the Delhi Cabinet, on June 10, granted minority status to the Jain community.

The Jain community has for long been demanding minority status on a par with the Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Muslims and Parsis, listed as notified minority groups under the Delhi Minorities Commission Act, 1999.

Members of the community say they want minority status primarily because they want to incorporate Jainism, the religion of the community, as a subject in Jain schools. The capital and its adjoining areas have eight Jain schools. They are not being able teach Jainism to their children because most of the Jain schools in Delhi are partially funded by the government, which doesn't allow the teaching of any particular religion at schools unless it is a minority community.

In this context, the minority status in Delhi for the Jain community, which already enjoys such status in several States, would help it effectively manage its educational institutions.

UNI AR SB CS1842