CM Revanth Flags Off Haj Buses, Assures Support to Minorities

 Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday flagged off buses carrying Haj pilgrims at the Haj House, and said the government was ensuring minorities received their rightful share in welfare and development. The Chief Minister announced that the state government would bear the additional cost of Rs 10,000 imposed by the Central Haj Committee, so that pilgrims from Telangana did not face financial hardship.

In the wake of voter name deletions during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in other states, he appealed to people to unite and prevent such tactics in Telangana. He said the government had given minorities their due share in employment and welfare schemes over the past two years, with 500 students receiving overseas scholarships annually. “Our government respects all religions. Hindus and Muslims are brothers,” he affirmed.

Revanth Reddy noted the growing demand for blue‑collar jobs abroad, particularly in Germany and Japan, and said advanced technology centres had been set up in Nampally to help the minorities. “That is why we established the skill university. Education alone is not the reason for unemployment,” he added.

Recalling the death of 44 pilgrims in a bus accident during last year’s pilgrimage, he said the government had extended an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to each bereaved family.

On the government’s initiative to reduce air pollution, he said many poor minorities in Hyderabad earned their livelihood by driving auto‑rickshaws. Free retrofitting services would be provided to convert all auto‑rickshaws within the Outer Ring Road into electric vehicles, saving costs for drivers.

During the event, the Chief Minister handed over 10 acres of land in Kamareddy district to the Waqf Board for graveyard use. Government adviser Mohammed Shabbir Ali, MPs Asaduddin Owaisi and Anil Kumar Yadav, Haj Committee chairman Syed Ghulam Afzal Biyabani and others attended the programme.