Scheme for Containing Population Decline of Small Minority Communities

The population of Parsis (Zoroastrians), a notified minority community under the National Commission of Minorities Act 1992, has declined from 1,14,000 in 1941 to 57,264 in 2011 as per Census data. In order to arrest the decline in population and reverse the trend, the Government of India through the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) formulated the Jiyo Parsi scheme in September 2013. The scheme has three components: i) Medical Assistance – to provide financial assistance for medical treatment under standard medical protocol; ii) Health of Community – to provide financial assistance to Parsi couples towards childcare and assistance to dependent elderly; and iii) Advocacy – to create awareness among the younger generation of marriageable age and young couples to make efforts to contain the population decline of the community and to seek early diagnosis and treatment where necessary.