Christians Not Benefiting From Govt. Schemes, Representatives Tell Minister
By SAR NEWS NEW DELHI (SAR NEWS) -- The Christian community of Delhi, under the auspices of the Federation of Catholic Associations, felicitated Union Minister of State for Minority and Corporate Affairs, Salman Khursheed, at the Archbishop’s House July 11 evening. The minister was welcomed and felicitated by Archbishop Vincent. M. Concessao and Bishop Franco Mulakkal. During the programme, Father Dominic Emmanuel SVD, spokesperson of the Delhi Archdiocese, and senior lay representative of the Church, John Dayal, presented the concerns of the Christian community to the minister in the form of a memorandum. “The community sometimes senses that when the minorities of this country are considered, the Christians are left out and are rarely able to take advantage of government schemes, particularly funds,” said Emmanuel. Dayal said the government should take a serious look at the blatant denial of freedom of religion to Christians and how the Sangh Parivar runs its own writ in many places. “Our concern is also towards the Dalit Christians who are being discriminated against by successive governments for over fifty years. The government should also consult the community while forming educational policies as well as in its formation of Equal Opportunity Commission now in the works.” Responding positively to the concerns expressed by the community, Minister Khursheed not only promised to look into all the concerns and grievances, but also appreciated the Christian community for its commendable service in the field of education, health and development work, done particularly for the poor and the marginalised sections of society. “I often ask my own community members as to why we cannot learn and be inspired by the Christian community to do for the Muslim community what they have done for theirs,” he said. He also sought the co-operation of the Christian community to help the government in implementing some of its policies, particularly for the poor and the marginalised. “Let us join our hands together to better the lot of our people as the Christian community has a good track record of working for this particular class of people,” Khursheed said.
