<span style="color: #222222;">Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday said that a large number of youth belonging to minority communities are being selected in civil services and are emerging victorious in other competitive exams because of the "Backup to Brilliance" policy of the Ministry.<br />''<br />''He said this after inaugurating the Anjuman-I-Islam's UPSC Academy (AIUPSC), a Residential Coaching Programme for Civil Services and other Government Examinations in New Panvel near Mumbai.<br />''<br />''The Minister said, percentage of minority communities in central government jobs was below 5 percent before 2014. But it has now gone up to more than 10 percent, he added, noting that the policy has shown results at the ground level.<br />''<br />''The AIUPSC is specially meant for students and candidates belonging to the Muslim community. The programme has been set up by the management of Anjuman-I-Islam and is funded by Central Waqf Commission, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India.<br />''<br />''The Minister further said that the Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) scheme, which is getting implemented beginning today, will prove to be a milestone towards socio-economic and educational empowerment of the needy, providing them with employment-oriented skill development. The Minority Affairs Minister also said that the Government has provided skill development training and employment opportunities to around 21.5 lakh people from the minority community, through various skill development and employment-oriented programmes such as "Hunar Haat", "Seekho aur Kamao", "Nai Manzil", "Nai Roushni", "Ustad" and "Garib Nawaz Self-Employment Scheme" in the last 8 years. This is in contrast to only 20,000 people from Minority communities getting such opportunities before 2014, he observed.<br />''<br />'' The Minister informed that while only 3 crore minority community students had been provided scholarships before 2014, the Minority Affairs Ministry has provided scholarships to 5.2 crore minority community students in the last 8 years. The Minister informed that projects worth more than 18,000 crores rupees have been constructed in backward areas. These projects include schools, colleges, smart classrooms, ITIs, polytechnics, hostels, common service centres, skill development centres, hospitals, drinking water and sanitation facilities, sports facilities, Sadbhav Mandaps, Hunar Hubs, among others, he said.</span><br />