New Delhi: Union Minister of Minority and Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju told the Rajya Sabha on Monday (February 10) that the Prime Minister’s new 15 Point Programme for welfare of minorities is a programme aims to ensure that the underprivileged and weaker sections of six centrally notified minority communities have equal opportunities for availing the various government welfare Schemes.While the government said in the Parliament that the 15 point programme is for the welfare of minorities, in recent times the BJP government in the Centre has discontinued schemes such as the Maulana Azad National Fellowship, which was meant for students from minority communities.The welfare schemes being implemented by Ministry of Minority Affairs and other participating ministries under the programme include – pre-matric scholarship scheme, post-matric scholarship scheme, merit-cum-means based scholarship scheme, National Minorities Development Finance Corporation (NMDFC) loan schemes, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan, Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY-NRLM), Deen Dayal Upadhyay – Gramin Kaushalya Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana.The Schemes are being implemented by the respective ministries/departments under the saturation approach of government, said an official release from the Press Information Bureau (PIB).Other welfare schemes under the programme include Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission, priority sector lending by banks, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, POSHAN Abhiyaan, National Health Mission, Ayushman Bharat and National Rural Drinking Water Programme.