New Delhi: Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Jain community was today accorded minority status by the central government which will enable them to avail of benefits in government schemes and programmes.
The decision to grant minority status to the community of about 50 lakh was taken at a meeting of Union Cabinet in Delhi, a day after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi took up this issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A group of Jains had met Rahul yesterday to press for their long-standing demand for minority status and Rahul then spoke to Singh in their support.
The Jains became the sixth community to have minority status after Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis.
Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan told PTI that his ministry would soon issue a notification on the issue.
