"The Plan outlay for Ministry of Minority Affairs has been enhanced from Rs 1,000 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 1,740 crore in 2009-10 registering an increase of 74 per cent," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said presenting the Union Budget in Lok Sabha.
The total allocation includes Rs 990 crore to be spent for multi-sectoral development programmes for the community in 90 minority-concentration districts.
The government has "almost doubled" grants-in-aid for Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF). The allocation also covers provisions for National Minority Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) and pre and post Matric scholarships for the minorities.
Allocations have also been made for new schemes like National Fellowship for students and grants-in-aid to Central Wakf Council for computerisation of state Wakf Board records.
Mukherjee noted that the government has already allocated Rs 25 crore each for the two proposed campuses of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) at Murshidabad in West Bengal and Malappuram in Kerala.
