Mumbai, April 4 (IANS) Minority Affairs Joint Secretary Shyama Prasad Roy on Saturday assured the Parsi community of the government’s continued commitment to their welfare even as the Jiyo Parsi portal recorded 300 fresh registrations during a camp organised here, an official said.
The Universal Parsi Registration Drive special facilitation camp, organised by the Ministry of Minority Affairs with support from the Bombay Parsi Panchayat in Mumbai, witnessed an overwhelming response, said a statement.
The fresh registrations during the camp marked a significant step towards strengthening outreach within the community, it said.
Launched in 2013-14, Jiyo Parsi is a flagship Central Sector Scheme aimed at arresting the declining population of the Parsi community.
According to the Ministry, the scheme seeks to stabilise and increase the Parsi population through structured interventions and scientific support.
The scheme provides medical Assistance for fertility treatment and pregnancy-related care; health of community support, including financial assistance for childcare and care of dependent elderly and advocacy initiatives such as counselling, awareness campaigns, and outreach programmes, said the official statement.
The assistance under the scheme is being released to the beneficiaries through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode after biometric authentication and other verifications by the respective state governments.
During the camp, Roy encouraged eligible beneficiaries to come forward and avail themselves of the scheme and urged registered members to share feedback to further strengthen its implementation.
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.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, an expenditure of Rs 17.64 crore was incurred, and 232 babies were born under the scheme, according to the Ministry’s data.
An evaluation study of the scheme was conducted by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) in 2025. According to the report submitted by IIPS, the scheme has been largely successful in reaching its intended population, and there was a near-universal acknowledgement among the respondents about the usefulness of the scheme in increasing the Parsi population.
–IANS
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