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Minorities in India, as per the National Commission of Minorities Act, 1992, are Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs and Parsis. As per the 2001 Census, these communities constitute about 18.4 % of the total population of the country numbering about 18.94 crores.
The Community-wise break-up of Minority Population in India, as per 2001 census, is given below:
| SNo. | Community | Population | %age of Minority Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muslims | 13,81,88,240 | 72.919% |
| 2 | Christians | 02,40,80,016 | 12.707% |
| 3 | Sikhs | 01,92,15,730 | 10.140% |
| 4 | Buddhists | 79,55,207 | 04.198% |
| 5 | Parsis | 69,601 | 00.037%. |
Dr. Gopal Singh in a study report on Minorities, submitted to the Government in 1983, has clearly brought out that amongst poorest of the poor Minorities Communities constitute the Majority.
After independence, Government of India has launched a number of poverty alleviation schemes and programmes. Nationalisation of Banks was also a step in this direction. In fact, the Nationalised Banks were focused as major source of credit for agriculture, traditional trades and artisan activities. Dr. Gopal Singh report revealed that Minorities have not been able to obtain their share of credit from Nationalised Banks as per their requirement. This situation led to the concept of having an additional financing agency for Minorities in the form of
National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC). NMDFC was incorporated under the aegis of “MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE & EMPOWERMENT”, GOVT. OF INDIA on the 30th of September 1994 under the Section 25 of the Companies Act - 1956 with the main objective to promote economic development of the poorer section of Minorities.
To focus a special attention / thrust on the issues relating to the MINORITIES, the Govt. of India had set-up a new Ministry called the “MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS” in the year 2005 and the NMDFC functions under its administrative control and directions to achieve its aims and objectives.