, Oct 4 (INN): Deputy CLP leader in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has accused the TRS Government of completely ignoring the welfare of minorities in the State.
Releasing a Press Release on the issue at Gandhi Bhavan here on Saturday, Shabbir Ali alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao did not show any seriousness in fulfilling the promises that he made during elections. “Even after 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,” he alleged.
The Congress leader said that 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 has released only Rs 21.71 lakh, which is sufficient only for 40 marriages. He also accused the government of adding too many riders with the scheme which would make almost impossible for poor Muslim girls to fulfill the conditions or match the criteria to get become a beneficiary.
Shabbir Ali said that the TRS Government has copied the “Shaadi Mubaarak” from previous Congress Government by increasing the cash benefit from Rs 25,000 to Rs 51,000. He demanded that the government allocate Rs 205 crore to ensure funding of 40,000 marriages of poor Muslim girls.
“The announcement of 12% reservation for Muslims is proving to be a hollow promise. While making representation to the 14th Finance Commission, the Chief Minister made a mention of giving reservation to STs, but deliberately avoided Muslim reservation. The government had also promised to constitute a commission headed by a retired judge as a prelude to implement 12% Muslim reservation. However, the government is yet to constitute the commission. The Muslims students already lost the academic year of 2014-15 due to delay. Further, the Muslim aspirants might lose the opportunity to get 12% share in the recruitments which are being promised in near future,” he said.
Therefore, he demanded that the Chief Minister implement the promise on immediate basis.
Shabbir also slammed the TRS Government for inadequate release of funds for minority welfare department, non-release of scholarships for students and non-clearance of fee reimbursment arrears for last year. “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 is highly condemnable that the government did not react on this issue of grave concern,” he said. The State Government also did not release the matching grant of Rs 20 crore for the Central scholarship.
“The promised funds of Rs 5 crore for Ramzan festival too remained unrealized. Similarly, after promising to give Rs 2 crore at once for the Haj camp, the government did not release a single rupee till the conclusion of 17-day long Haj camp. The Chief Minister should conduct a review meeting and direct the officials concerned for the immediate release of funds,” he said.
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