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DELHI GOVERNMENT ACCORDS MINORITY STATUS TO JAIN COMMUNITY
The State Government of Delhi at its cabinet meeting held on the 10th June, 2008 decided to accord minority status to Jain community on the same lines as given to Sikh, Parsi, Muslim, Bauddh and Christian communities. There had been a long-outstanding demand from Jain community of Delhi to grant inority status so that it could enjoy same benefits as other minority communities. The Delhi council of minister's decision, on June 10, to accord minority status to the Jain community in the Capital was not an easy one. It is learnt that the decision came after a fair amount of lobbying by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit herself and Congress's Lok Sabha MP from Chandni Chowk Kapil Sibal. The decision was a difficult one, considering that a similar proposal had been shot down at least four times by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. Congress sources said senior party leaders from the city, including Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president J P Agarwal, had to bat for the community's cause.