QUESTION : Examine in context with Cultural and Education Rights, the provision of

grants or recognition given to minority educational institutions.

INTRODUCTION:
Article 30 of the Constitution talks about two types of minority communities – Linguistic
and Religious. But while it defines the categories of minority communities, there is no
official definition of the word by the government.

Minorities recognised under the Constitution of India: (i) religious minorities (ii) linguistic
minorities (iii) cultural minorities and (iv) minorities possessing a script of their own
What exactly is a minority group?
• A linguistic minority is such a community whose mother tongue is different from that of the
language that most people in their region speak. • these numbers vary across states, the
government determines the minorities in each State separately.
Article 29 of the constitution
The basic rights of an Indian citizen are guaranteed by the Fundamental Rights enshrined in
the Constitution of India. Basically, there are six fundamental rights entailed in the
Constitution of India. Article 29 along with Article 30 of the Constitution of India talks about
the cultural and educational rights that are given to an Indian citizen.

 Article 29(1) of the Indian Constitution aims at protecting the rights of a group. This
is an absolute right for the groups in minority with respect to their cultural
background. This provision cannot be subject to reasonable restrictions for the general
public’s interests.
 Article 29(2) of the Indian Constitution aims at protecting the rights of an individual.
The Article has provisions that guarantee the rights of an individual citizen (not
related to the community to which the citizen belongs). Hence, Article 29 as a whole
guarantees the protection of both religious and linguistic minorities.

As per the Constitution of India, there are only TWO types of minorities that are Religious
and Linguistic. The Constitution in this Article has not mentioned the minorities as per caste,
representation, etc. The Supreme Court said that the scope of the Article is not restricted to
minorities only. The language used in the Article ‘section of citizens’ means that it includes
both minorities as well as the majorities.

CASES

 In the case of Ravneet Kaur v. Christian Medical College (1997), the Court observed
that the state was promoting discrimination in the institutes that were aided. The Court
held that even the private schools and colleges which received government aid, cannot
discriminate on the basis of religion, caste or race of the students.
  In the case of DP Joshi v. State of Madhya Bharat (1955), the Court noticed that
there still exists one kind of discrimination that doesn’t come across people and that is
the ‘place of residence. The state universities use the criteria of residence qualification
for the admissions of students. In another case, Ashoka Kumar Thakur v. Union of
India (2008), The Supreme Court ruled that it would be preferable not to offer
reservations based on residence or institutional preference when it comes to
admissions to postgraduate courses.

In S.P. Mittal v. Union of India, AIR 1983 SC 1, the Supreme Court held that The
Auroville (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1980, did not violate Article 29 or 30 of the Indian
Constitution. The Act, enacted by the Government of Tamil Nadu to address issues in
Auroville, was deemed not to infringe upon the rights of minorities to conserve their
language, script, or culture under Article 29. Additionally, Auroville, not being a religious
institution but based on the ideology of Sri Aurobindo, was found ineligible for protection
under Article 30. Thus, the constitutional validity of the Act was upheld by the court.
In State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan (1951), the Madras government's
admissions order for state medical and engineering colleges was challenged for its
discriminatory basis on caste and religion. The court ruled the order void, finding it violated
Article 29(2) of the Constitution, which protects minority rights. This case prompted the first
amendment to Article 15(4), empowering the state to enact special measures for the
advancement of socially and educationally backward classes, including Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes.
In State of Bombay v. Bombay Educational Society (1954), the Bombay government
mandated English medium schools receiving government aid to only admit students whose
mother tongue was English, targeting Anglo-Indians. The court ruled that minority
institutions have the right to admit students of their choice, regardless of government aid, and
government assistance does not authorize infringement upon minority rights.
CONCLUSION
Our constitution believes that diversity is our strength. Therefore they guaranteed the right to
minority to maintain their culture. The minority status is not only dependent on the religion
but linguistic and religious minorities are also included in this provision. Minorities are
groups that have common language or religion and in a particular part of the country or in the
country as a whole, they are outnumbered by some other social section. Such communities
have the right to conserve and develop these