– Ronita Torcato

Reiterating that the Maharashtra government is committed to achieving the holistic development of minority communities through education, skill development, and social empowerment, deputy chief minister and minority development minister Sunetra Ajit Pawar directed officials to speed up the construction of the proposed engineering college for minority girls at Anushakti Nagar, the residential complex for employees of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

Anushakti Nagar is a premier education hub with a host of institutions including Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), the Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI) a deemed university located within the BARC training school complex and several Atomic Energy Central Schools (AECS) offering CBSE, ICSE, and state board curriculums.

The deputy chief minister issued the directive to expedite the proposed college’s construction while addressing a meeting at the Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai  to review various schemes of the Minority Development Department and the operations of the Jain Minority Economic Development Corporation (JMEDC).

The meeting was attended by Chandrakant Dada Patil, minister for higher and technical education; Madhuri Misal, minister of state for urban development and minority development; Sana Malik-Sheikh, MLA; Manisha Verma, additional chief secretary, skill development department; Dr. Rajesh Deshmukh, secretary to the Deputy CM, among others.

It may be recalled that Pawar’s predecessor Dattatreya Bharane, minister for minority development, sports, and youth welfare had directed officials to submit a proposal to establish the college under the prime minister’s Jan Vikas Program last year.

On Tuesday, Pawar announced the appointment of a full-time Managing Director (MD) to head the JMEDC and instructed that proposals submitted by the corporation’s officials in this regard be immediately scrutinised and presented for further action.

Assuring that the necessary infrastructure and manpower will be provided to increase the corporation’s efficiency, she said that the issue of pending non-official member appointments to various boards under the Jain and minority development departments would be resolved soon, and that the government would provide all possible assistance to the corporation. Jains are among the most educated and wealthy communities in India.

During the meeting, Pawar also noted that the state government is implementing various schemes for the educational, social, economic, and cultural upliftment of the minorities and these efforts will be further accelerated in the field of the higher technical education of girls.

The Deputy CM clarified that the government’s special focus will be on empowering the youth through skill development, technologbased education, and employment-oriented initiatives.

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