The socio economic backwardness of the Muslim community in India was underlined by the Justice Sachar Committee report. Then came the Ranganathan Mishra Commission report which recommended 10 per cent job reservation for Muslims because the community occupied the lowest rung in the human development index. But the government of Andhra Pradesh and finance department still elude a comprehensive plan to improve the condition of Muslims. They are not ready to give even the 1 percent of the total budget to minorities.
Muslims comprise of 12 percent of the state population but even 1 percent of the budget is not allocated for minorities which include other minorities besides Muslims. Minority Welfare department also didn’t show courage and recommended for just 1480 crore which is half of the required budget. And now further reduction by finance department has disappointed the Muslims of the state. Finance department has refused to provide more than 1000 crore rupees for minority welfare.
Chief minister had promised a sub plan for minorities. But it seems that he had offered nothing more than lip service. The government is not ready to allocate considerable budget for minorities let alone a separate sub plan. There is still time for the Minority Welfare minister and chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to reconsider the matter and ensure increase in minority budget.
Siasat news