PTI, MUMBAI: Education should be the first priority for the country as it is the “golden key” to ensure constitutional and social security of citizens, especially girls, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday said.
The Narendra Modi government has been working towards educational empowerment of minorities, especially girls, on a priority basis, the minority affairs minister said.
He said education is the “golden key” to guarantee constitutional and social security of girls. “We should take it as a mission to make education our first priority.”
Addressing a programme at Anjuman-a-Islam Girls High School in suburban Mumbai, Naqvi said education is a very strong tool for development and the Modi government is committed to educational empowerment of minorities.
Naqvi said due to efforts of the Centre, the school dropout rate among Muslim girls, which was earlier more than 70 per cent, has now come down to about 40 per cent. “The goal of the government is to bring it down to zero per cent.”
This year, the focus of the minority affairs ministry will be on better education and employment-oriented skill development of girls, he said. Naqvi said the Centre will provide financial aid to institutes which are being established and run on waqf properties and engaged in educational activities. The government will award those “mutawallis’ (caretakers) who perform well in management of waqf properties to ensure utilisation of these properties for betterment of the society, especially educational empowerment of girls.
He said the record increase of Rs 505 crore in the budget of his ministry for 2018-19 proves that inclusive growth is the priority of the Modi government.
