UPSC Exam: Successful minority candidates felicitated

Nine successful minority candidates, who cleared the 2017 civil services examinations with the help of government-aided free-coaching programmes, were facilitated by the Minority Affairs Ministry in the capital on Friday.

The UPSC exam results were declared in April. In the 2017 exam, 5.15 per cent of the total 990 successful candidates are Muslims. Also, three Muslim women ranked among the top 100.

The Modi government has created a conducive atmosphere for promoting the talent of the youth from minority communities, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Friday. He said that the government's development policy without any discrimination ensured that for the first time after Independence, a record 131 candidates from the minority communities, including 51 Muslims, were selected in the civil services.

"Earlier, efforts were not made to create such an environment which would give minority community youth confidence," Naqvi said in a statement.

Naqvi said the ministry has been putting in effective efforts to promote and ensure progress of meritorious youth from the minority communities -- Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Sikh, Jain and Parsi.

"The Modi government has created an atmosphere to protect and promote talent of the youth from the communities which has resulted in such a large number of them being selected in the top administrative services," Naqvi said.

Through various institutions and organisations, the ministry has been implementing coaching programmes such as 'Nai Udaan', 'Naya Savera' for the minority youth preparing for the civil services, other UPSC examinations, medical, engineering and administrative examinations, Naqvi said.

This year, free-coaching will be provided to more than 15,000 youths from across the country. The 'Nai Udaan' and 'Naya Savera' schemes were revised last year and rate of financial assistance on qualifying UPSC prelims was increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh, Naqvi said in the statement.

In the 2016 examination, 1,099 people were selected for the civil services, and 126 youths from minority communities, including 52 Muslims, were selected.