TRS ignoring minorities: Shabbir

Hyderabad: Deputy CLP leader in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir accused the TRS government of completely ignoring the welfare of minorities in the State.

At a media conference on Saturday, Shabbir alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao did not show any seriousness in fulfilling the promises that he had made during elections. Even after the completion of more than 125 days in power, the government did not take a single major decision with regard to the welfare of minorities. It confined itself to mere promises and assurances while giving no indications of fulfilling them.

Stating that KCR was high on promises, but low on performance, the Congress leader said as against the claims of providing financial assistance of Rs 51,000 each to 40,000 poor Muslim girls at the time of their marriage under ‘Shaadi Mubarak’ scheme, the State government had released only Rs 21.71 lakh, which was sufficient only for 40 marriages. The amount was released through a GO RT No 673 dated 26-09-2014. He also accused the government of adding too many riders with the scheme which would make almost impossible for poor Muslim girls to fulfil the conditions or match the criteria to become a beneficiary.

Providing financial assistance for the marriage of poor Muslim girls was initiated by the previous Congress government. The present government had only enhanced the amount from Rs 25,000 to Rs 51,000, he said.

Shabbir said the TRS government also had failed to release even one-fifth of the regular budget to the minority institutions. The government was yet to pay the scholarships to students for the current academic year and clear arrears of three instalments of Fee Reimbursement which ran into several hundred crores. As many as 55 Engineering and B Pharmacy minority colleges were not given permission to admit students for the year 2014-15. As a result, nearly 9,000 seats were lost. It was highly condemnable that the government did not react on this issue of grave concern, he added.

Shabbir said, the promised funds of Rs 5 crore for Ramzan festival were also not given. The government issued two GOs (RT No. 11 & 12 Dated 11-07-2014 & 18-07-2014 respectively) directing the State Wakf Board to release Rs 5 crore to mosques and Eidgahs for Ramzan arrangements. However, a majority of mosques and Eidgahs were yet to receive the funds, he said.