India to set up equal opportunities commission: Khurshid

Nagpur, Aug 17 (PTI) India is in the process of setting
up an equal opportunities commission which will deal with
discrimination faced by minorities in areas like employment,
education and housing , India Union Minister for Minorities
Salman Khurshid said Monday.

A draft bill to set up the commission to thwart
discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, gender and
language will be brought up before the next session of the
Parliament.

The commission will be headed by a retired judge of
either the Supreme Court or a high court with four-five
members, Khurshid told reporters.

The government has decided to set up the commission on
the recommendations of a committee headed by Mahdav Menon and
it would function like any other existing 13 national level
commissions, he said.

Meanwhile, talking about his ministry, Khurshid said the
centre has identified 90 districts in the country where 25 per
cent population was of a particular minority community and has
earmarked Rs 2,500 crores for the development of these
districts in the current five-year plan.

On alleged detention of bollywood star Shahrukh Khan at
an airport in the US, Khurshid expressed his regret over the
incident but declined to comment saying the Ministry of
External Affairs was already seized of the issue.

It does not reflect the policies of Barak Obama
administration, he observed. PTI JOE
DDC
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