the goan I network
MARGAO
The Goa Muslim Front on Wednesday knocked the doors of the district authorities with a plea to implement the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme for the upliftment of the Muslims, including the demand to provide a burial ground for the community in all the constituencies and to set up the Urdu Academy in Goa on the lines of Konkani and Marathi academies.
District Collector South Agnelo Fernandes, who gave a patient hearing to the delegation of the Goa Muslim Front headed by President Shaikh Iftikar, has assured to pursue the matter with the Chief Secretary after the delegation impressed upon him that the programme mandates the CS as well as the district collectors to implement the measures.
In the memorandum submitted to the District Collector, the Front further demanded that the government implement the Goa Law Commission Report of 2007 to provide burial ground for all the three communities in all the constituencies.
While demanding that the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme for the upliftment of the minority Muslims should be immediately implemented in Goa, the delegation pointed out that the forum has been making representations to different government departments since 2011 for the implementation of the programme and formation of state and district level committees, but in vain.
The PM’s 15-point programme includes setting up of the Maulana Azad Education Foundation for the promotion of Urdu education, free coaching and allied schemes, fellowships for minority students, post-metric and pre-metric scholarship scheme for technical and professional courses, providing quality education in the madarassas and schemes for the infrastructure development of the minority institutions.
The forum has also demanded implementation of rural housing schemes for the minority community, integrated housing and slum development programmes, identifying and improving the slums inhabited by the minority community and the establishment of community centres in North and South
Goa. The community does not have a single community centre in the State.
