Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, speaks at Reforms Utsav–Celebrating 12 Years of Reforms for Development of Minority Communities, in New Delhi on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: X/@RijijuOffice via ANI
Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday (June 4, 2026) said minorities in India enjoy full freedom and are able to practise their faith and way of life without hindrance. He said efforts were being made from outside the country to project a false narrative of persecution.
“No individual had been compelled to leave the country because of religious identity… Criticise government policies if you wish, but do not spread falsehoods,” the Minister said while attacking the Opposition.
Speaking at the Ministry’s ‘Reforms Utsav’ to mark 12 years of the Narendra Modi government, Mr. Rijiju highlighted technology-driven initiatives but said that details of nearly 45% of Waqf properties are yet to be uploaded on the UMEED portal and that issues on scholarship remain unresolved.
UMEED is a centralised digital platform for real-time uploading, verification, and monitoring of Waqf properties. It was launched on June 6, 2025, with an initial six-month deadline to register around 9 lakh such properties spread across India.
“There are so many shortcomings in different State Waqf boards… the documents of properties are faulty… in some places, thousands of acres are recorded on paper, but the land on ground tells a different story. We are continuously organising workshops and sessions to help Mutawallis register the Waqf properties. It is a labour-intensive process and will take some time,” he said.
The Minister admitted that scholarship delivery, one of the Ministry’s largest welfare initiatives, remained affected by investigations into alleged fraud in several States. Referring to cases where scholarships were reportedly claimed in the names of fictitious students, Mr. Rijiju said he hoped that ongoing CBI inquiries would conclude soon and the programme could resume.
“We cannot start the scholarships by excluding those institutions which are being investigated for fraud. So we will have to wait until the investigation is finished,” he added.
Mr. Rijiju said the Ministry’s annual budget has increased from ₹1,949 crore in 2014 to ₹4,115 crore at present, a 111% jump. But government outreach efforts received limited attention and negative developments attracted disproportionate coverage, he said.
On the Munambam land dispute in Kerala, the Minister said the matter was under examination by the Law Ministry and emphasised that no citizen should suffer due to administrative lapses or injustice.
AI for hajj
During the event, which was attended by beneficiaries of various schemes, the Ministry featured demos for an AI-enabled helpline for hajj pilgrims.
“The chatbot will be accessible through an app that pilgrims will be able to place phone calls with, in addition to being available on WhatsApp. The voice chatbot is only available on its own app since WhatsApp calls are banned by the Saudi government,” an official said.
There will be an escalation bot to handle complex queries where human assistance is required, a Gnani.ai representative said at the event. The firm’s chatbot will be rolled out in the coming months on the Ministry’s behalf and will support queries in 12 languages.
Gnani.ai will integrate the Haj Suvidha app to enable pilgrims to submit applications by automatically fetching details from their passports using phone cameras. The integration also supports automated refunds where eligible.
The Ministry also signed an MoU with EkStep Foundation to establish a shared AI-enabled digital infrastructure, making it easier for artisans and minorities to discover livelihood opportunities and welfare schemes.
Ministry Secretary Srivatsa Krishna outlined the Ministry’s vision for its third term based on the principles of ‘Reform, Perform, Transform and Inform’. He highlighted the significant progress made in digitisation, skill development, educational empowerment and transparency in service delivery.
Published – June 04, 2026 09:47 pm IST
