AP govt unveils `174-cr plan for minorities’ uplift

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has sanctioned an amount of Rs 174 crore for the construction of ‘permanent’ buildings for Minority Residential Schools.

Addressing a meeting during the Minorities Welfare Day celebrations organised as part of the birth anniversary celebrations of Bharat Ratna Moulana Abul Kalam Azad at Ravindra Bharathi, here on Monday, he said that the residential schools would have their own structures for smoother functioning.

Explaining the government’s efforts for the uplift of minorities in the State, he noted that the government had recommended to the Central government to provide financial assistance for their welfare in 12 towns and 10 mandals in the next 10 years. The towns and the mandals with maximum minority population would get Rs 10 crore and Rs 4 crore respectively every year for a period of 10 years.

Underscoring the attempts by the government to help Madarsas, Kiran Kumar pointed out that there were 2,886 volunteers in seminaries who were supported by the State government. In Old City, he said, there were 357 volunteers helping to ensure that no child from the minority communities was left out of school.

Recalling that during the year 2004 an outlay of Rs 27 crore was earmarked in the budget, he said that after assuming office he hiked this manifold. “When I assumed office, it was only Rs 180 crore and now it is Rs 1,027 crore within less than three years,” he underlined.

Similarly, the sanction for scholarships had gone up from Rs 2 crore covering 17,000 students in 2004-05 to currently Rs 700 crore covering about 2 lakh students. Hoping that the monetary help would reach the deserving students, he warned that whoever indulged in corrupt practices or siphoned off the money meant for poor students would be severely punished.

Several minority leaders were also felicitated on the

occasion.