Chairperson of the United Political Alliance ruling at the Centre, Mrs Sonia Gandhi said at the inauguration of the India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi, on 12 June 2006:

The Muslim citizens of India, numbering about 140 million, constitute the second largest Muslim community in the world. They are as much part of the Indian landscape as the adherents of any other faith. They enjoy the same right to equality, and to equal protection of the law, and all other fundamental rights as any other citizen. The Constitution protects and upholds their religious, cultural and educational rights. At the same time, and as an open and mature society, we need to accept that there is a gap between rights in law and their realization in practice. The development level of considerable sections of the Muslim population is a matter of concern in terms of equity and social justice; so is its under-representation in public employment and public life. Differentiations of this kind are unacceptable in a modern society. They retard the overall progress of India itself. Conscious of this ground reality, the UPA government included in its Common Minimum Programme a section on social harmony and the welfare of minorities. Its objective is to address the problems and grievances of all our minorities. The Ministry of Minority Affairs has been established to attend to these matters in a coordinated and focused manner. The Prime Minister's High Level Committee has been set up to report on social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community and to suggest policy interventions. The Planning Commission, busy with the preparation of the 11th Plan, will identify areas of special inputs.

In fact, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has to existence. The 11the Plan has incorporated its concerns for the minorities and the Sachhar Report is already tabled in the Upper House on 30 November 2006. It is however, very illuminating to note the fact that the present UPA coalition Government at the Centre is showing its serious concerns for reducing the backwardness of the Muslims. The reports of the Sachhar Committee and previously the Gopal Sing Committee have exposed the false claims of some political forces which allege Muslims as pampered and appeased by showing their socio-economic and educational status before the entire country. On 22 June 2006, the Union Cabinet approved and revised the Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities. This includes enhancing opportunities for education, equitable share in economic activities and employment, improving the conditions of living of minorities and prevention and control of communal riots. The Cabinet also decided for earmarking 15% of the funds in relevant schemes/programmes, for the nationally declared minorities.

On September 10, the Prime Minister of India urged the Chief Ministers of all States and Union Territories to fix targets for each programme under the New 15-Point Programme. He also emphasized the need to set up mechanism to monitor the progress for their implementation. He also said that the importance of maintenance of communal peace and harmony and provision of a fair share in Central and State Government employment, including the public sector undertakings, to the minorities remains undiluted and these continue to be fundamental constituents of the revised programme. He also said that benefits of a large number of schemes didn’t inspire confidence due to their inequitable to minorities.

On November 2, the Prime Minister, while inaugurating the National Conference on State Minorities Commissions, reiterated confidence in the fact that “the source of India’s strength lies in its diversity”. He said: “The Constitution places a pre-eminent emphasis on the values of liberty and justice, on treating all citizens as equal before law and on safeguarding the rights of the minorities and the oppressed”. He also said: “Let us create an environment where all Indian can strive for equitable prosperity transcending the religious frictions”. On December 2, the Union Minister for Human Resources Development, Mr. Arjun Singh constituted a High Level Committee to examine and to formulate plan of action on the recommendations of the Sachhar Committee. Addressing the 52nd Meeting of National Development Council on December 9, he said about the Approach Paper of the 11th Five Year Plan that it would also include “programmes for the upliftment of SC/ST, other backward classes, minorities and women and children…. We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have first claim”.