<p><br />"At the official level, it (centre-state coordination) is happening all the time, at political level we will do it. I will seek my leadership's intervention as and when necessary," Khursheed said.</p>.<p>"My word may not count as much as that of the Prime Minister or the Congress President. But if need be, I will certainly do it," he added.</p>.<p>He was replying to queries about the efficacy of execution of schemes aimed at betterment of Muslims in the states, many of which are ruled by regional parties.</p>.<p>At the same time, he said he would approach the Finance Minister for enhancing the scholarship assistance for Muslims in the Budget in the wake of a demand from 20 lakh meritorious students. </p>.<p>"State governments must be able to have right chemistry with us on this... I am willing to go an extra mile to talk to them for what I consider to be important for national objective," Khursheed said, adding that implementation of the schemes aimed at betterment of minorities was with states and Centre was only a provider of funds.</p>.<p>"There is no lacunae but we need better cooperation with the states because many of these schemes are centrally sponsored schemes and they have to go through states, the minister said when asked about the lacunae in implementation.</p>.<p>Khursheed also felt that setting up of the Diversity Index and the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) could go a long way in ensuring affirmative actions for the underprivileged including minorities.</p>.<p>"The government has been already taking steps. The Prime Minister has already said so and the President in her speech has also said so (about setting up of EOC)," he added, acknowledging that setting up a Commission like EOC takes time. </p>.<p>Terming the scholarship scheme for minorities as a "great success", the minister said he wants more funds for scholarships and has already taken up the matter with the Finance Ministry.</p>.<p>"We have said that we need more funds. We get money for giving four lakh scholarships and we got demand for 20 lakh, which is five times more. This means that our scholarship programme is a success," he said.</p>.<p>On whether he is demanding for doubling of the fund, he said, "nothing like that." But "we do realise that all equities have to be balanced."</p>.<p>Asked about his wish list from the new budget, the minister said the government will start releasing the funds for the 90 MCDs from this year and added that he would like to see more funding for them, as well as for the scholarship programmes of the ministry.</p>
<p><br />"At the official level, it (centre-state coordination) is happening all the time, at political level we will do it. I will seek my leadership's intervention as and when necessary," Khursheed said.</p>.<p>"My word may not count as much as that of the Prime Minister or the Congress President. But if need be, I will certainly do it," he added.</p>.<p>He was replying to queries about the efficacy of execution of schemes aimed at betterment of Muslims in the states, many of which are ruled by regional parties.</p>.<p>At the same time, he said he would approach the Finance Minister for enhancing the scholarship assistance for Muslims in the Budget in the wake of a demand from 20 lakh meritorious students. </p>.<p>"State governments must be able to have right chemistry with us on this... I am willing to go an extra mile to talk to them for what I consider to be important for national objective," Khursheed said, adding that implementation of the schemes aimed at betterment of minorities was with states and Centre was only a provider of funds.</p>.<p>"There is no lacunae but we need better cooperation with the states because many of these schemes are centrally sponsored schemes and they have to go through states, the minister said when asked about the lacunae in implementation.</p>.<p>Khursheed also felt that setting up of the Diversity Index and the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) could go a long way in ensuring affirmative actions for the underprivileged including minorities.</p>.<p>"The government has been already taking steps. The Prime Minister has already said so and the President in her speech has also said so (about setting up of EOC)," he added, acknowledging that setting up a Commission like EOC takes time. </p>.<p>Terming the scholarship scheme for minorities as a "great success", the minister said he wants more funds for scholarships and has already taken up the matter with the Finance Ministry.</p>.<p>"We have said that we need more funds. We get money for giving four lakh scholarships and we got demand for 20 lakh, which is five times more. This means that our scholarship programme is a success," he said.</p>.<p>On whether he is demanding for doubling of the fund, he said, "nothing like that." But "we do realise that all equities have to be balanced."</p>.<p>Asked about his wish list from the new budget, the minister said the government will start releasing the funds for the 90 MCDs from this year and added that he would like to see more funding for them, as well as for the scholarship programmes of the ministry.</p>