As per the provisions of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, five communities namely Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists & Zoroastrians (Parsis) have been notified as Minority communities by the Central Government.
As per the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) Report on “Employment and Unemployment Situation Among Major Religious Groups in India (July, 2009 - June,2010)”, in 2009-10, the average monthly per capita consumer expenditure, which is usually taken to reflect the living standard of household, was Rs.980/- (Rs.833 for rural areas and Rs.1272 for urban areas) for Muslim community, which was lowest among all the minority communities.
The issues related to social, educational and economic status of Muslim community has been dealt in detail in the Sachar Committee Report submitted to the Government in the year 2006.
The Report has inter alia, observed that there is low educational achievement among the Muslim community, lack of educational facilities in the minority concentration areas, relatively higher engagement of Muslims in self employment in the unorganized sector and low participation in regular salaried jobs.
This was stated by Shri Ninong Ering, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs in response to a written question in Rajya Sabha today.
