<span style="color: #222222;">Officiating Chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities Syed Shahezadi on Thursday said that the Union Government is committed to the welfare and progress of the minority communities in Jammu and Kashmir.<br />''<br />''Addressing a press conference at Srinagar on the concluding day of her four-day visit, Ms. Shahezadi said that the government is providing special focus to the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir and many initiatives and schemes are being taken in this regard. She said that whole nation will progress when we work together and appealed everybody to contribute towards peace, progress and development.<br />''During the visit, Syed Shahezadi held interactions with minority groups and listened to their issues. She said that the issues highlighted by the minority groups will be brought to the notice of the relevant authorities to improve the standard of living.<br />''Highlighting the various schemes and projects for the welfare of minorities, she said that under PMJVK, 19 projects amounting to 314.33 lakh rupees have been sanctioned for providing better health, education and other facilities to the people of J&K. She also said that government was committed to provide access to quality education to students from minority communities. She maintained that the government was working with utmost sincerity to ensure welfare of these students through affordable, accessible and quality education and many schemes and scholarships are benefitting them.<br />''<br />''Giving details, Syed Shahezadi said that under pre-matric and post matric scholarships to the students of Jammu and Kashmir, an amount of 6.94 crore rupees and 26.3 crore rupees have been sanctioned respectively. Fifty students from Jammu and Kashmir have been provided benefits of free coaching for year 2021-22 for which an amount of 39 lakh rupees has been sanctioned by the Union Government. Under Nai Udaan scheme, she said that 315 students from Kashmir have qualified to prepare for the Civil Services Examination. She further said that Nai Manzil and Nai Roshni schemes have helped 7,750 and 2,450 beneficiaries.</span><br />