This article has been written by Stuti Malik of 1st year student at Hidayatullah National Law University

INTRODUCTION

India is the world’s largest democracy. It has long been renowned for its diversity. Under the secular roof of the nation, there are minority groups in India that practise various religions. Secularism has been emphasised from the start, since the drafting of the Constitution of India. The Indian Constitution’s Preamble incorporates values such as freedom, liberty, integrity, fairness, and social justice in order to make India the secular democratic nation that it is. The Indian Constitution protects and guarantees the rights of all citizens, and special provisions have been included throughout the Constitution and several other relevant legislation to safeguard the interests of minorities, backward classes, and others. Minorities in India have special rights under Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution of India. It guarantees minorities in India fundamental rights in terms of educational and cultural rights. These rights are absolute in nature and are intended to protect and guarantee these minorities’ freedom and the right to life. Article 30 guarantees Indian minority communities the Right to Education by granting them the right to create educational institutions for their communities and operate them with the administrative structure of their choice.

WHAT DOES ARTICLE 30 SAY?

Article 30 addresses minorities’ right to establish and manage educational institutions. Minorities are granted the right to establish and regulate their own educational institutions. The ‘Charter of Education Rights’ is another name for it.

Article 30(1): “All religious and linguistic minorities have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.”

Article 30(2): “The State shall not, when granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the management of a minority, whether based on religion or language.”

As written, Article 30 allows minority communities in India to establish and administer educational institutions. It guarantees them the right to receive government assistance, just like other educational institutions. Article 30 guarantees them educational equality and non-discrimination. Article 30 also states that the amount for compulsory acquisition of land on which a minority educational institution is established must be determined in a way that does not jeopardise the minority community’s educational rights. Article 30 of the Indian Constitution facilitates minorities’ right to education and upholds the value of the Right to Equality guaranteed to all under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. In India, the right conferred by Article 30 is just guaranteed to minorities, not to all citizens. This is done in order to safeguard the rights of India’s minorities. Article 30 also grants them the right to teach in these educational institutions in their native language.

TYPES OF MINORITIES EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

• Educational institutions seeking approval, recognition, and assistance from the state government in which they have established their institution,
• Educational institutions seeking only approval and recognition from the state government
• Educational institutions seeking neither recognition nor assistance from the state government.

WHAT DOES MINORITY ACTUALLY MEAN

The term “minority” needs to be defined more precisely because it is not properly defined in the Constitution of India. The term “minority” is derived from the word “minor” and the suffix “ity,” which means small number’. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “a minority is any small group in society that is distinct from the rest because of their race, religion, or political beliefs, or an individual who belongs to such a group or a group of people who share some characteristic by birth that makes their group smaller than some other companies in a society and may cause others to treat them unfairly.” The term “minority” is used in the Indian Constitution but is not defined.

Article 29 of the Indian Constitution uses the word ‘minorities’ in its marginal heading but it talks about “any section of the citizens inhabiting the territory of India or any part of the country should have the right to protect their language or script or culture which is different and varied.” It also states that citizens should be allowed to enrol in any educational institution run by the state or receive financial assistance from the state regardless of religion, race, caste, language, or any combination of these factors.

Six communities are designated as minority communities under Section 2 of the National Commission on Minorities Act. They are as follows:

• Muslims
• Christians
• Buddhists
• Sikhs
• Zoroastrians and 
• Jains 

THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE GOVERNMENT EXERTS CONTROL OVER MINORITY INSTITUTIONS

Every institution necessitates a regular check and cooperation between the institution’s management and the government. As a result of their disparate interests and motivations, they form classes. The different interpretations of Articles 29 and 30 are another source of contention between the institution and the government. The State has reservations about Minority communities abusing the rights granted to them under Articles 29 and 30. Regulation should be there by the Government on the minority institutions or they will abuse their privileges and exploit the rights of other people or employees working under those institutions. Control is also used to monitor academic progress and to ensure that the institutions’ standards are met. The Administration has the authority to impose disciplinary actions within the institution in order to control the employees and ensure that they follow the institution’s rules and regulations. The State has the power to establish directive policies and to take actions for the benefit of the organization’s academic and non-academic staff. The State is responsible for keeping an eye on these institutions to ensure their effective management and proper operation.

However, it has been held in many cases that the government cannot impose restrictions or interfere with the functioning of institutions because this would violate the rights of minorities guaranteed under Article 30 of the Indian Constitution.

In the case of TMA PAI v. State of Karnataka, the judgement stated was, “…it was suggested that the State does have the right to intervene or make policies or rules or regulations related to the administration of the minority institutions. The protest was directed specifically at the state’s selection or nomination for administration of private institutions, as well as to provide rights regarding student admission, fee structure establishment, and short listing, selecting, and appointing faculties by channels of the state.”

SOME CASES RELATED TO ARTICLE 30 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

Minority communities in India have the right, under Article 30(1), to establish and administer their own religious institutions, to educate children of their community, and to instil religious values alongside general education with minimal state interference. Several judicial decisions have shaped how Article 30 is interpreted.

The Supreme Court interpreted the meaning of ‘establish and administer’ in “S. Azeez Basha and Anr. v. Union of India (1967)”. The Court stated that minority education institutions established by such minority communities have the right to administer their daily affairs as well. In contrast, in order to have the right to administer an educational institution, the minority community must have established it with the intention of imparting education as a religious educational institution.

The University ruled in D.A.V. College, Bhatinda v. State of Punjab that Punjabi would be the sole medium of instruction in affiliated colleges. The Court held that the right guaranteed to minorities under Article 30 guarantees them the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, which includes the right to give instructions in their own language, and that the University Circular was straightly violating their privilege to have instructions in Hindi as their own language, thereby violating Article 30. (1). A university has the authority to suggest academic staff qualifications, but the selection and hiring of teachers is the responsibility of minority educational institutions.

The Supreme Court ruled in “Andhra Pradesh Christian Medical Association v. Government of Andhra Pradesh and Anr. (1986)” that the institution was not an educational institution. It was a cover for a business venture, not an educational institution operate by a minority community. The Court ruled that such a venture could not benefit from Article 30 because it did not apply to them.

The Punjab-Haryana High Court held in “Miss. Ravneet Kaur v. The Christian Medical College (1997)” that an educational institution cannot make distinctions against students from various religious or linguistic communities when making admissions decisions on the grounds that the institutions are not state-aided and thus are not bound by the state’s instructions.

CONCLUSION

Indian minorities have faced numerous challenges, including violence, discrimination, hatred, and a lack of representation. To combat these atrocities, the Union Government, legislators, and policymakers enacted laws, legislation, regulations, and special rights for minorities. Article 30 guarantees them one of these rights. This Article makes it easier for minority communities to establish and run educational institutions of their choosing. They are given administrative autonomy with minimal government interference. This is done in order to ensure equality and equal opportunities for the nation’s religious and linguistic minorities in education. Despite various government efforts over the years, it is believed that violence, discrimination, and hatred continue to this day.

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