Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme

The Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme was launched in 2005 by UPA government.  It seeks to ensure the welfare of religious minorities through

• Increasing educational and employment opportunities
• Improving living conditions
• Preventing and controlling communal riots.

Currently, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains are identified as religious minorities.  Jains were notified as a religious minority community in January 2014.

The objective of this scheme is to enhance opportunities for education and ensuring an equitable share for minorities in economic activities and employment, through existing and new schemes, enhanced credit support for self-employment, and recruitment to State and Central Government jobs in those districts which have substantial minority population.

The term ‘substantial minority population’ in the 15 Point Programme applies to such districts/sub-district units where at least 25% of the total population of that unit belongs to minority communities.

Target Areas

These states are Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. Lakshadweep is the only Union Territory in this group. The programme covers 121 districts of the country where population of Minority Communities is concentrated.  The Central government has allocated 15% of plan outlays for implementation of the 15 points which are related to various ministries.

These 15 points are as follows;

1. Equitable availability of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
2. Improving access to School Education
3. Greater resources for teaching Urdu
4. Modernizing Madarsa Education
5. Scholarships for meritorious students from minority communities
6. Improving educational infrastructure through the Maulana Azad Education Foundation.
7. Self-Employment and Wage Employment for the poor
8. Upgradation of skill through technical training
9. Enhanced credit support for economic activities
10. Recruitment to State and Central Services
11. Equitable share in rural housing scheme
12. Improvement in condition of slums inhabited by minority communities.
13. Prevention of communal incidents
14. Prosecution for communal offences
15. Rehabilitation of victims of communal riots.