We are walking a tightrope because of obstinacy of Mr Narendra Modi’

Akash Bisht Delhi

Union minister for Minority Affairs and Corporate Affairs Salman Khursheed is a lawyer and a prolific writer. Salman Khursheed did his schooling at Delhi Public School and later went to St Stephen's College (Delhi University) and St Edmund Hall (Oxford) for higher studies. He also taught law at the Trinity College, London. As a lawyer he had once appeared for SIMI as its defence lawyer appealing against the 2002 ban. Khursheed had then said that he was satisfied that the case was not against the ethics of the profession. He said, "A party and the government too cannot pre-judge an organisation." He was among the few Congress leaders who had raised questions on the police version of the Batla House encounter.
He was phenomenal as the president of the Delhi Public School Society and helped the institution increase its tally from 14 to 75 schools in India and other countries. He also set up three satellite branches of DPS in the extremely backward district of Mewat in Haryana for the poor and disadvantaged. He took the audacious decision to add Urdu in DPS curriculum.
He was in political wilderness for many years and after winning the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Farrukhabad, he was given the meaty portfolios as the Union minister of corporate and minority affairs. He took over the corporate ministry at the height of the Satyam scandal and has been trying to undo the damage. He has introduced new initiatives to bridge the widespread 'development gap' among the minorities. Salman Khursheed talks to Hardnews on his current job and his priorities

After you took over as the minister for minority affairs, it was being speculated in the media that you wanted more powers for your ministry. What sort of powers did you have in mind?
I never wanted more powers. What I had suggested was that I needed better coordination with other ministries to protect the interests of the minorities. There are five minority communities in the country and if members of a minority face any issues they come to me whether it concerns my department or not. I have to take care of their interests so I need better coordination for the betterment of the minorities. The question is how to intervene with the ministries. For example, if there are communal riots anywhere in the country. So the issue is how to coordinate with the home ministry. People from the minorities come to me and I have to ensure that their interests are not compromised. That's what I mean by better coordination.
Adding to this, the earmarked targets, funding for the minorities and 15 per cent of the assets stipulated under various schemes is coordinated here for the country. Hence, I am not asking for more power. Along, I am encouraging increased people's participation in decision making.