MINORITY STATUS IN INDIA

1.Context

The Supreme Court has taken up a petition seeking the identification of minorities at the state level and granting minority status to Hindus in states and union territories where their numbers have gone below other communities.

2.About petition

The petition by Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay has contended that the 2011 census showed that Hindus have become a minority in Lakshadweep (2.5%), Mizoram (2.75%), Nagaland (8.75%), Meghalaya (11.53%), J&K (28.44%), Arunachal Pradesh (29%), Manipur (31.39%), and Punjab (38.40%), but were being denied minority benefits that are currently being enjoyed by the respective majority communities in these places

3.Minority Definition under Indian Law

4.Constitutional provisions

• Article 29, which deals with the “Protection of interests of minorities”, says that “any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same”, and that “no citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them”.
•  Article 30 deals with the “right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions”. It says that all minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. It says that “in making any law providing for the compulsory acquisition of any property of an educational institution established and administered by a minority, the State shall ensure that the amount fixed by or determined under such law for the acquisition of such property is such as would not restrict or abrogate the right guaranteed under that clause
•  Article 350(A) says there shall be a Special Officer for linguistic minorities appointed by the President. "It shall be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under this Constitution and report to the President upon those matters at such intervals as the President may direct, and the President shall cause all such reports to be laid before each House of Parliament, and sent to the Governments of the States concerned".