NDA govt created atmosphere of trust among minorities without appeasement: Naqvi

Ahead of NDA's third anniversary, union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday dished out data to claim that Modi government was empowering minorities "without appeasement".

The move he claimed has helped create an "atmosphere of trust" -- a phrase used to counter "atmosphere of fear" charge levelled by the opposition -- among the minorities since Modi government came to power in May 2014.

Sharing details, minority affairs minister Naqvi told reporters that his ministry has constructed 1,102 school buildings, 15,869 additional classrooms, 676 hostels, 16 polytechnics, 8,532 Anganwadi centres and 18 Gurukul-type (residential) schools. On the contrary, he stated that the previous Manmohan Singh government did not open "even a single" degree college for Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains between 2007 to 2014.

Thirty-three-degree colleges in minority dominated areas were built during the Modi regime, he stated. In some other segments as well, he gave comparative analysis to stress that the NDA government performed better in comparison to UPA.
 
"The steps taken by the Modi government for the progress of the minorities are a reflection of its empowerment without appeasement policy. It has created an atmosphere of development and trust among the minorities," the minister claimed.

Naqvi also stated that the budgetary allocation was hiked by Rs 368.23 crore, taking the amount to Rs 4,195 crore this fiscal in comparison to last year's figure.