Union minister Harish Rawat says, focussed development of minorities especially Muslims and not seeing every policy through the prism of vote-bank politics are absolutely necessary for the country's progress. The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs was speaking at a conference on 'Minority Rights and Identities: Challenges and Prospects in an unfolding global scenario' as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of Institute of Objective Studies.

Rawat lamented the thinking that every policy towards betterment of minorities is seen as vote-bank politics and said that the desired results of any government scheme cannot be achieved until there is a focused approach towards the welfare and development of minorities. He said the schemes for minorities cannot be implemented like normal government schemes, as desired results or benefits cannot be achieved that way.

Speaking on the occasion, National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Chairman Wajahat Habibullah highlighted the Commission's role in safeguarding the education, culture and rights of the minorities. Habibullah rued the fact that there is a “knee-jerk reaction” to blame on Muslims after every terror act and said that NCM has been successful to some extent in persuading security agencies and media to desist from such things till something concrete is established.