Ahead of the Telangana polls, Congress has promised to increase the state annual minority welfare budget to Rs 4,000 crore if elected to power in the southern state.
The current Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government asserts an annual allocation of Rs. 2,000 crore for minority welfare, purportedly the most substantial allocation by any state government.
A separate allocation of Rs 1,000 crore would be made annually to provide subsidised loans to students and women from the minority community, said Telangana Congress Chief A Revanth Reddy.
The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee had constituted a Minorities Declaration Committee with Mohammed Ali Shabbir as the chairman.
The grand old party further said it aims to ensure ‘fair reservation’ for all backward classes including minorities in jobs, education, and government schemes.
Under the Abdul Kalam Taufa-e-Taleem Scheme, Congress said it would provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and other minority youths upon completing MPhil and PhD programs.
The minorities declaration further promised a monthly honorarium of Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000 for priests of all religions including imams, muezzins, khadims, pastors, and granthis.
It also promised to conduct special recruitment to fill up vacancies for Urdu-medium teaching posts and establish the ‘Telangana Sikh Minority Finance Corporation.’
The houseless minority communities will be provided sites and Rs 5 lakh for construction of a house.
Newlywed couples belonging to minority communities would be given Rs 1.6 lakh, the declaration promised.
The polls for the 119-seat Telangana Assembly will be held on November 30, and the votes will be counted on December 3.
