Budget 2026: ₹3,400 crore for educational, skill, infrastructure development schemes for six minorities

The Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) has been allotted ₹3,400 crore for the implementation of various educational, skill and infrastructure development schemes for the six minorities in India.

The budget for Quami Waqf Board’s Taraqqiati Scheme and Sahari Waqf Sampati Vikas Yojna witnessed almost a 2.5 times rise, with ₹32 crore being allotted in 2026-27. The budget for the same scheme in 2025-26 was ₹13 crore, and the revised budget was ₹13.5 crore. These two schemes are aimed at computerising waqf records, protecting vacant urban waqf land from encroachers and developing the same land for commercial purposes to generate revenue in order to widen welfare activities.

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The budget for Prime Minister-Viraasat Ka Samvardhan, an initiative from the MoMA for socio-economic empowerment of minority communities through education, women entrepreneurship and leadership training, saw a cost cutting. The allocation to the scheme this year is ₹303.27 crore. The reduction has been done for committed liabilities. The budget for this scheme, which is implemented in convergence with the Skill India Mission of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and through integration with the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH), last year was ₹517.29 crore. The revised budget for the same remained ₹312 cr.

The budget allocation for pre-metric and post-metric scholarships remained at ₹198 crore and ₹581 crore respectively. The budget for the two schemes was ₹195 crore and ₹413 crore last year.