Govt Initiatives and People Awareness discussed at Seminar on Education and Development

The first Annual Divisional Conference of the Rajasthan Minorities Employees Association was organized today at the University Auditorium, MLSU from 10 am onwards. The conference consisted of a Seminar on Education and Development in the Minority Communities and a Talent Felicitation Ceremony.

The participants and delegates at the event were welcomed by Saabir Mohammad, Chief Convener of the event. The introduction of the association and its activities was given by Shakila Ansari, Udaipur District President of the Association.

Speaking at the seminar, Layaq Ali Khan, Assistant Conservator, Forest Department, member of the Minorities Employees Association Rajasthan and the Convener of the event, threw light on the functioning of the association, the mission and vision of the group at large and invited like-minded individuals and organizations to use the platform provided by the Association.

A detailed understanding of the various initiatives and plans of the Central and State Government, specifically for the upliftment and development of the Minority strata of society was given by Saud Akhtar.

He thanked the ADM Churu, Sattar Khan (RAS) for his insightfulness and commitment to the association, saying that the development of the activities of the Association and work towards uplifting the minorities had become a prime focus for Sattar Khan. He said that reform and intellectual strength among the minorities was the need of the hour.

He also threw light on the commendations of the Sacchar Committee and the Ranganathan Committee, which were a government initiative to look into the requirements of the members of the minority committee.

Talking about the new 5 – Point Program of the Prime Minister for Minority development, Akhtar said that the program needed commitment from the administration to be effective. Regular follow up on the developments by the representatives of the Government was necessary for these programs to see the light of the day. For this the State Government has initiated a Quarterly Review by the State Chief Secretary, the next review for which will happen as early as 21^st July 2012.

He also spoke about the various schemes on Scholarship being offered by the government for the minorities and said that due to non-awareness, most of these schemes are not being subscribed to completely. Hence people awareness was essential. He said that this year more that 2,75,000 scholarships are up for the taking, if people subscribe to it.

Sardar Karnal Singh Gill, in his speech to the audience said that a lot of activity was being performed without the assistance of the government in Udaipur, and that students of schools being run by such welfare organizations were being recognized at state and national levels.

In the felicitation ceremony, various achievers were felicitated by the members on the podium. Apart from students who performed well in their Senior Secondary examinations, the following achievers were felicitated for their performance at higher level of education.

Ashraf Qureshi, Azhar Baig and Dr Naeem Mansoori for success in IAS; Gitanjali Brandon and Zubair Chisti for success in RAS; Syed Basharat Ali for success in IPS; Dr. Nilofer Syed, Dr. Sajida Siyahi, Dr. Anisa Tinwala and Dr. Azeemuddin Khan for getting their Doctorates.

Yusuf Khan, a member of the media from the Chhoti Sadri, announced the website that he had created for the Association. Mentioning that the website (www.moeuraj.com) was in its beta stage, it would provide all sorts of information on government and other schemes, initiatives and provide a one stop shop to all government jobs and advertisements.

Dr. Vaseem Ahmed, in his talk to the audience emphasized self development, contribution of a part of Zakaat towards education and development and creation of a feeling of oneness among the members of the minority community.

Justice Fakhruddin, the Chief Guest at the event, in his presidential address, said that the members of the minority community need to work towards self development. He said that it was mandatory for each member, each student to respect their parents, respect their country work towards a community development perspective to make their career a success.

Photos by Sayeed Ahmed